“I’ll be out in the barn when you wake up, Sam,” Cade told him, his smile slow and easy as he dropped a quick kiss on Marly’s lips. “Hurry up, we have work to do.”
He lifted his hat from the hook on the wall and made his exit with a slow rolling rock that made Marly’s mouth water.
“Stop eating him with your eyes,” Sam griped as he flung himself in a chair and watched her broodingly.
“What’s with you?” Marly fought her blush and her embarrassment at being caught, at knowing a truth she didn’t want to face just yet. “You’re never this grouchy.”
His expression became shuttered.
“He’s not using rubbers,” Sam bit out. “I’m slow, but I’m not stupid.”
Marly shrugged, knowing her face was beet red at his observation.
“I’m on the pill.” She shrugged. “And I know for a fact that Cade’s careful. He bitches at you two too much not to be.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed on her.
“Cade know about the pill?” he asked her curiously.
Marly rolled her eyes. “What business is this of yours?”
“None.” He frowned darkly, turning his attention back to his coffee.
Marly rose from the chair, retrieved her cup and after pouring out the cooling coffee, re-poured more. She took her cup and went to the back door, opening it and stepping out on the porch. Dawn was just a few hours past, and the mists of morning still lay on the ground. Spring was nearly over, and she knew summer was moving quickly forward.
She sighed deeply. She was going to have to make a decision about school quickly. If she were going back, she would have to leave in just a few days. The lasts months before summer break were usually pretty intense.
“He won’t let you leave now.” Sam stepped behind her, somehow in tune to her as he always was.
It frightened her now, how she knew these men so well. How they knew her as they did. She was confused, how she should feel versus what she did feel, and it was rioting through her mind like a crowd out of control.
She sighed deeply, staring out at the dew damp morning with a frown.
“He’s not what I expected,” she whispered, knowing Sam would understand. Knowing he wouldn’t question her. He would wait, as he always did, for what she wanted.
“And I know he warned you he wouldn’t be, Marly,” he told her softly. “You pushed him, we all did, and maybe we were wrong in that. “
She hunched her shoulders against his reminder.
“Cade’s not an easy man, none of us are. I know him, and I know what he’s like. He hasn’t had a woman since the night you caught him in the study with one of his floozies, and he has a lot of time to make up for.”
Marly frowned as a metallic glint flashed in the distance, catching her attention.
“Maybe I really am too inexperienced for him.” A sharp cracking sound heralded her words.
Hard hands gripped her, throwing her back as Sam grunted painfully. They landed on the kitchen floor amid Marly’s hair and spilled coffee. Angrily, she turned to blast him, then screamed out in fear at the bloodstain blooming over his chest.
“Sam!” She screamed, her shocked gaze going to his dazed one.
He blinked up at her, his hand pressing to his chest weakly, then coming away, covered in blood as he stared in horrified fascination.
“Son of a bitch,” he gasped his surprise at the blood coating the hand he had pressed to his chest. “God. Damn, Marly.”
“Cade.” She jumped to her feet, her desperate scream followed by the sound of rushing feet, both through the house and on the porch. “Cade. Oh, God. Oh, God. Sam.” She jerked a dishtowel from the counter, pressing it to his chest as Cade threw himself into the house, slamming the door behind him.
“Son of a bitch. He’s shooting fucking wild.” Cade yelled, rushing to Sam when he saw his brother lying prone on the floor.
He slid to the floor as Marly pressed the towel to the bloody wound. Reaching out to touch his brother, he jerked his hands back, fists clenching as his eyes widened in horror.