Monroe, Marla - The Ranchers' Bride [The Men of Space Station One #2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  The Men of Space Station One #2

  The Ranchers’ Bride

  On the planet Alpha, Andrew and Danny decide to take matters into their own hands and kidnap their bride instead of waiting around for her to choose them, as was the original plan. Now they have Rachel at home with them and need to convince her to stay. Will Rachel fall in love with them and agree to be their bride?

  Rachel falls in love with the two men but isn’t sure they are as happy with her since they haven’t taken her back for the ceremony. She is afraid that if she doesn’t get pregnant they won’t want her. Rachel is attacked by a strange creature, leaving her with a strange scar. The men realize when they almost lose her that they need to let her know how they feel. Does Rachel feel the same way? Will the men figure out what will make Rachel theirs forever?

  Genre: Futuristic, Menage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction

  Length: 36,307 words

  THE RANCHERS’ BRIDE

  The Men of Space Station One #2

  Marla Monroe

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  THE RANCHERS’ BRIDE

  Copyright © 2011 by Marla Monroe

  E-book ISBN: 1-61926-073-5

  First E-book Publication: December 2011

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

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  THE RANCHERS’ BRIDE

  The Men of Space Station One #2

  MARLA MONROE

  Copyright © 2011

  Chapter One

  Rachel stomped back to her dorm room. She was angry with Lacy for claiming the two men she had been interested in. Then she felt bad about it. She’d had her chance and waited to see if there was someone she liked more. It wasn’t Lacy’s fault. She should be happy for the other woman.

  Not for the first time, Rachel wondered if she had made the right decision in volunteering for the space station experiment. At the time, she felt as if it was her only option to get out of the bunkers below ground. With the sun having major solar flares nearly every day, many women had Shear’s disease and were no longer able to have children. Those women who didn’t have the disease were sequestered beneath the ground in the government bunkers to protect them.

  She had grown tired of seeing nothing but metal and earth for over two years. She longed for sunlight and wind on her face, that wasn’t artificially made. The space station mission had seemed like a godsend to her at the time. It would get her out of the bunkers and outside. There had already been men living on the new planet for over a year now, so it had to be safe. She barely even skimmed over the information packets they had provided until they had boarded the shuttle and taken off. Then reality had kicked in.

  They would be living in a dorm until they married. Then they would have to help with gardening and putting up food. She didn’t know a thing about gardening. She was a great cook and could sew, but canning? Rachel didn’t have a clue how to do any of that. What man would marry her without those skills?

  Once she’d gotten past her fear, she had talked to several of the other women and found that they didn’t know any more about how to garden than she did. She didn’t feel quite as dumb after that.

  She resisted the urge to kick the closet door, knowing all it would gain her was a hurt foot, if not a broken toe. She needed to get busy and choose someone before all the men she had even a passing interest in were taken. She had met nearly all of them, but so far none of them really struck her as intriguing.

  Well, they were having a dinner that night, with dancing afterwards. She would meet all of the remaining available men there. She decided on her outfit and then wondered if dressing in her finest clothes was a good idea. Maybe what she needed to do was wear work clothes to show that she was suitable wife material.

  Wear the freaking dress, Rachel. You’re doing the choosing, not them. It doesn’t matter what you look like, in the long run.

  When it was time to go, she’d changed her dress three times and nearly worn the wrong color shoes because of it. She couldn’t get her heart to stop fluttering and felt as if she would pass out at any minute. She had never been so nervous in her life.

  Dinner was uneventful, with two women and four men to every table. The men at her table were all nice looking but just didn’t stir her juices. She hoped she would meet someone at the dance, because it looked like several of the women had already begun to choose their men.

  As soon as the music started, couples drifted out on the floor. Rachel accepted dance requests and enjoyed dancing with the men, but still, she didn’t like any of them as husband material. What was she looking for? She didn’t know the answer to that question. Maybe she would be the last one left and get stuck with the least likely pair of men on the planet. It would serve her right for being so picky.

  She felt something tingling on the back of her neck and
turned around to see if someone was staring at her. She looked but saw no one looking in her direction. She sighed and once again accepted another dance request from yet a different man.

  * * * *

  Andrew sighed and looked down on the spiraling couples on the dance floor with the remainder of the group at the fringes. He and Danny had just made it in, having missed dinner to locate some lost cows. Now they were looking from the balcony of the town’s community center at the festivities below. Neither man felt much like joining in. They were beat, having been up since the crack of dawn, and needing to get back to see about some calves that were due to drop.

  Spring was a busy season for a rancher. Then, most seasons were busy for one reason or another. Still, if they planned to have a wife, they needed to get down there and get in on the choosing.

  “Danny, you ready to join in?”

  “Not especially. I prefer to do my own picking. I don’t really like the idea of some woman choosing us.”

  “I’m with you on that, but it’s how they agreed to it when we weren’t here.” Andrew sighed and turned to walk down the stairs.

  “What if we just choose one and take her tonight?” Danny asked.

  “You mean kidnap a bride?” Andrew smiled. It had merit.

  “I sort of like that idea. Then we can get on back to the ranch and get on with the business of ranching.” Danny waited for Andrew to think about it.

  Andrew went to remove his hat and remembered he had left it in the transport with Danny’s. They figured they wouldn’t need them inside the community center. Now Andrew wished he had kept his on. He felt naked without it covering his head. It helped keep his unruly hair down.

  “Let’s go and see if we can find someone among them,” Danny urged.

  “Sounds good to me. We have to agree on her before we snatch her.”

  Danny nodded, and they walked downstairs to find themselves a wife.

  They danced for about an hour when Andrew caught sight of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She had long black hair pulled back at the nape of her neck to curl down her back. Her eyes were a dove gray, and her face looked like a porcelain china doll’s, with the pale complexion to go with it.

  She was dancing with some man that was only a few inches taller than she was, at around five feet six inches. She looked strong despite her delicate face and skin. Her figure was much like an hourglass, with full breasts and a small waist that flowed out to a rounded bottom. She looked exactly like he and Danny liked their women. He couldn’t wait for Danny to return from the dance he had taken with a similar but far less attractive woman.

  When he returned, all Andrew had to do was point toward the dark beauty, and Danny was ready to spirit her away right then and there.

  “First, let’s dance with her and be sure we get along well enough. We don’t want to pick someone that we aren’t compatible with.”

  “Okay, you go first. I just danced.” Danny stepped back toward the chairs on the side of the floor.

  “I’ll pass her off to you if she’s the least bit suitable,” Andrew told him.

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  Andrew walked over to the raven-haired woman and smiled down into her eyes from his height of six feet four inches. She smiled back and cocked her head.

  “Have we met yet?” she asked in a soft, husky voice.

  “Not yet.” He held out his hand. “I’m Andrew Rousseaux.”

  She took his hand and smiled. “I’m Rachel Foster.”

  “Would you like to dance?” he asked with a grin.

  “I’d love to.”

  He led her to the edge of the dance floor and pulled her into his arms. She fit perfectly. Her voice rubbed his cock in just the right way as she asked about him.

  “Danny McGuillis and I run the ranch outside of town. We have a few hundred head of cattle and more on the way on the next shuttle.”

  “So you supply the beef for the community,” she said.

  “Right. We also keep a few horses and chickens. When we get some more men to help, we’ll run most of the animal side of the businesses.”

  “How many men do you think you’ll have working on the ranch?” she asked.

  “Probably twenty, eventually. Either that, or they might try keeping two separate ranches. That might work better. Easier to handle smaller spreads than one really large one with so much you don’t know about this planet.”

  Andrew talked with her for several more minutes until the song faded, and he led her to where Danny was waiting on the edge of the dance floor. He nodded his head slightly to let his buddy know that he liked her.

  “Rachel, I’d like you to meet Danny, my partner. Danny, this is Rachel Foster.” Andrew introduced them to each other.

  “How about a dance, Rachel?” he asked.

  Rachel smiled and nodded. Andrew watched as his friend twirled Rachel across the dance floor. It was odd that they only played slow songs. Maybe it was all designed to speed up the choosing process. Well, he and Danny planned to speed it up even more. They’d bring her back later for the ceremony, after she was settled with them.

  He watched them dance by several times. They were obviously enjoying each other’s company. She wasn’t looking around for another man, and Danny wasn’t dumping her at the edge of the floor. It looked like they had chosen their bride. Now to figure out how to get her home with them. He would never hit a woman to knock her out, and drugging her was out of the question. He’d never risk hurting her.

  As it were, she posed the answer to the problem herself. She complained of being hot and asked if they minded taking her outside for some fresh air. They were only too happy to oblige.

  Andrew and Danny walked on either side of her and steered her toward their transport. When they drew near it, Danny surprised them all when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The sight of Danny’s mouth on Rachel’s had his cock rock hard. He moved in behind her and pressed it against the curve of her ass then leaned in to sample her neck.

  She tasted slightly salty and smelled of vanilla and sugar. He would always remember that scent now and equate it with her. It teased his senses as he kissed and nibbled his way around her jaw and back down her neck. He pushed his dick harder against her ass and heard her moan in Danny’s mouth.

  Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled her away from Danny’s mouth and claimed it with his own. His tongue quickly replaced Danny’s and began exploring her mouth before she had a chance to recover. She struggled at first to take control of the kiss, but he quickly subdued her by sucking her tongue into his mouth and teasing it with the tip of his.

  Her hands slowly wrapped around his neck as she hung on to him. He liked feeling her arms around him. He wanted her to always seek him out to protect her. He and Danny would make sure nothing ever happened to her.

  He pulled back and kissed the corners of her mouth, then her eyelids, and finally returned to her mouth. He thrust his tongue in and out of her mouth in time to his pelvic thrusts against her abdomen. He wanted her badly enough he almost lifted her dress and unfastened his pants. Only Danny’s cleared throat stopped him.

  “Why don’t we show her our transport?” he suggested.

  “Your transport?” she asked, totally out of breath.

  “Yeah, it’s the planet’s version of an SUV and truck all rolled into one.” Danny led her toward it.

  They were parked on the edge of the parking area, in a dark corner. She didn’t seem worried when they led her in that direction. She already trusted them to keep her safe. That was a good start. He opened the door and invited her to step in and take a look at the view from the dash. He stepped in after her and reached over to flip on the outside lights. Andrew sighed and continued with their plan. He climbed up on the other side and closed the door.

  “How about a ride around the area?” he asked.

  “Oh, well. I guess that’s okay. Not too far, though.”

  “We’ll keep you safe,” Danny p
romised her.

  Andrew fired up the transport, and they lifted a good two feet in the air to hover until he selected a direction. He looked over at Danny and knew what he was going to do. He was taking their bride home.

  Chapter Two

  Rachel knew as soon as Andrew turned the transport in the opposite direction of the town that something was wrong. She never should have climbed inside. They weren’t taking her for a quick spin around the town. They were kidnapping her. Why? It wasn’t as if they needed to. They were assured of a bride by coming to the planet. Hell, she’d even already decided that they were her choice by the time they’d escorted her outside. So why kidnap her?

  “Where are we going?” she finally asked.

  “We’re taking you to our place. Your new home,” Danny answered.

  “But we aren’t married yet.” She felt forced to point this out to them.

  “It’s only a ceremony. We’ll go back in a couple of weeks and get the ceremony, so you’ll be official and all. We just don’t have time right now. It’s calving season,” Andrew explained.

  “But I didn’t choose you,” she reminded them.

  “Yeah, well we sort of took matters into our own hands. We figure it goes both ways. We should be able to choose, too, and they took that away from us.” Andrew steered them toward the ranch.

  “Okay, I can see your point, but it doesn’t negate the fact that you are taking me against my will,” she said.

  “We aren’t hurting you. We just have to get back to the ranch and can’t spare the time to come courting,” Andrew explained again.