Authors: Berengaria Brown
Chevaunne shut the door and sank onto the commode. Actually, one of the two commodes. There were two sinks as well, plus the biggest tub she’d ever seen. Dazedly, Chevaunne shook her head. Her brain was still trying to grasp what she’d done. Had she really agreed to marry three men?
How did that work? I’m pretty sure that’s not legal, but then neither is kidnapping. So who is this JP we’re seeing? Why see a JP when one woman marrying three men isn’t legal?
It was all too much to think about, and her tummy was rumbling. She hadn’t eaten supper, and she’d burned off a lot of calories last night. She grinned as she remembered the fantastic sex and stepped into the shower.
When she reappeared in the bedroom half an hour later, jeans and a sweatshirt had been laid out on the bed with a delicate set of pale blue underwear. Everything in her size. Someone had definitely done their homework.
She followed the smell of hot coffee to the kitchen where Sam was standing by the stove, a pan of tomatoes and mushrooms simmering beside him and a pile of toast keeping warm on the cook top. As soon as she appeared, Sam served the meal, and Paul rushed to seat her at the table before handing her a plate laden with food. Next, he poured her a glass of pink juice.
Cautiously, she took a sip of juice. It seemed weak but was delicious nonetheless. “What is it?”
“Half pomegranate juice, half water. We grow the pomegranates ourselves and eating them and drinking their juice is traditional. But they have a lot of natural sugar in them, so usually, we water it down,” said Paul.
“It’s a trade-off. Only half the vitamins but only half the sugar as well,” added Sam, sitting beside her.
“Makes sense,” she replied, sliding a piece of toast under her tomatoes and mushrooms.
“After breakfast, we shall visit Father Yeshe to make our marriage vows,” began Jim, watching her face. She swallowed a mouthful of food and nodded.
“Then we have our wedding party in the temple courtyard. There will be dancing and speeches as people wish us well for our future together.” All three men had their gazes glued to her face. She nodded again. That was only to be expected with a wedding.
Sam said, “We have a traditional wedding costume we would like you to wear, if you don’t mind. Our grandmother wore it, as did our mother.”
“Will it fit me?” she asked.
“It’s a robe. One size fits everyone,” explained Paul.
“I’ll be honored to wear your mother and grandmother’s wedding robe,” she said. A warm feeling ran through her at the pleased looks on their faces. How could anyone refuse such a simple request? Besides, it wasn’t as though she had a wedding gown of her own here to wear. Or, in fact, anything of her own here. Not that she had a lot of possessions anyway. She wasn’t an acquisitive sort of person. But the photographs of her parents and her few treasures from her childhood…Yeah, there were a few things she needed to go home and get. And her car…oh, shit! It would be tagged and impounded by now.
“What is it?” asked Sam, who’d been watching her face.
“My car will have been impounded. It had to be moved before the morning shift started.”
“Oh, that’s okay. All your things are on their way here. George and his brother went to collect them with his delivery truck. Wang is driving your car here.”
“What?”
Paul’s bright-eyed, smiling face drooped a little. “You aren’t pleased? That George and Wang collected your things? They’re bringing them all back here for you.”
“Yes, yes, that’s fine. I was just surprised. So much has happened so fast. What about my job? What have you done about that?”
“We called you in sick for the rest of the week. You’ll have to leave. You will live here at New Thimphu with us now. But after our honeymoon, if you wish to work, you may choose any job you want in the community. We have a hospital if you want to continue nursing. If you want to try something different, there are many administrative jobs vacant, or you could start your own business. Whatever you desire,” said Jim.
“And my friends, my work colleagues?” Suddenly, it seemed all so complicated to Chevaunne.
What the hell have I done? I have to stay here? They’re moving all my things without me?
“If you wish to see your friends, it can be arranged. You can meet for lunch in town or spend the weekend there with one of us. If you cannot live without them, they can come and live here, too. Our desire is that you will be happy.” It was Paul who spoke, but all three men watched her with sincere looks on their faces.
It was still messy and complicated and pretty much unbelievable. But Chevaunne had a sudden rush of confidence that it would all work out. She’d say her vows, have her wedding, and make her life here. And hope like hell they were all happy.
Chapter Three
Three giggling young women appeared at the kitchen door just then. One introduced herself as Anh, the others were Kiri and Shiloah.
“Anh, we’ve met before.” Chevaunne paused to think. “Your grandmother was ill. How is she?”
“My great-grandmother. She’s known as Honored Grandmother here as she is, by far, our oldest citizen. She’s much better, thank you. It was just a matter of the doctors doing tests to adjust her medications. One of our doctors, Russell, is determined to study further on the diseases of the aged, so he’ll be better equipped to deal with our seniors in future.”
Jim came into the room—Chevaunne hadn’t even noticed him leaving—carrying a bundle of deep red and gold fabric.
“It’s beautiful,” she sighed as he unwrapped it. It was a rectangular textile, hand-woven silk on silk with the red and gold pattern woven into the fabric. “It must have taken someone a very long time to do,” she said, gently touching the intricate pattern of reds and golds.
“Six months to a year for a woman to make,” said Anh.
“Such fabric used to be counted as part of a family’s heritage and wealth,” added Kiri.
Sam handed her a leather belt. “The women will dress you. This belt holds the gown at the waist. The leather is from the hide of one of our own cattle. All three of us made it together to give to our wife. We tanned the leather using bark from our own trees in the tanning process. The buckle has our names inscribed on it.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, humbled by the amount of work they’d undertaken to give her such a gift. And she had nothing to give them in return. As she got to know them better, she would choose a gift for each of them, likely to give to them on their first anniversary.
Oh, woman, listen to yourself. You’re planning anniversary presents, and you aren’t even married yet. To men who kidnapped you! Has your brain gone on vacation?
Suddenly, Chevaunne was conflicted and confused. They had kidnapped her. But they hadn’t hurt her. They’d asked her permission before fucking her. But they had aroused her so much she was desperate for an orgasm. They had planned the wedding and given her beautiful clothes to wear, clothes full of tradition, symbolism, and love. But would those gifts have been given to any woman in her place?
“Our clothes are in the guest room. We’ll wait for you here to walk to the community center together,” said Paul.
“We’ll have her ready in half an hour,” Anh replied. Then she, Kiri, and Shiloah led Chevaunne into the main bedroom.
Chevaunne was still trying to decide what she really wanted as the three young women undressed her and began rubbing a sweet-smelling ointment into her shoulders and back.
“Mmm, that smells really nice. Roses?” she asked.
“My mother and I make it,” said Shiloah. “We grow the roses in the hydroponic farm. We mash the petals and hips and boil them and add animal fat and some other things to make it. Wang and George sell the jars in their store, but most of the ointment is sold over the Internet. I help her package the jars and do the bookwork, then George posts them from Centerville.”
“Centerville? I thought the town was called Green Ridge?”
“Centerville is a big city, so it’s easy for George to be anonymous there. New Thimphu has a post office box in each of three different malls, so he posts some of our parcels in each of the mail centers and no one pays any attention to him. Most of our businesses are online, and only a few of them require things to be sent out, so by using different mailing centers, it’s less conspicuous.”
“I don’t understand. Why must the businesses be inconspicuous?”
Anh and Kiri started rubbing the ointment on her arms, and Shiloah picked up her foot and began massaging it.
“Chevaunne, you’re about to marry three men. Three brothers. Even those of us born here at New Thimphu know that is not usual.” Kiri giggled.
“Yes, but—”
“The first settlers came here to avoid religious persecution and hold onto their old traditions and beliefs. They were naturally reclusive and deliberately tried to blend into the local area. Besides, although the authorities turn a blind eye to polygamy in some religious communities, there’s no guarantee they’d do so to polyandry,” said Anh.
“As well as that, New Thimphu is wealthy. We all pay our taxes and that sort of thing, but we try very hard not to cause local residents to become jealous of us. The houses and farms people see as they drive around this area and the people who visit Green Ridge, all appear average, ordinary. In the outside world, we’re very careful to look like anyone else. Most of us have never left the underground community and don’t want to. Everything we could ever need is here,” added Shiloah.
Chevaunne’s confusion must have shown on her face because Anh patted her shoulder gently. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll all make sense after you’ve lived here a while.”
The girls started chattering about her hair and how it was to be styled. Her long, brown waves fell to just below her shoulders, and the girls arranged her hair in a loose knot on top of her head with a few tendrils hanging down to soften her jawline.
Next, they stood her up and slid her feet into flat, red leather sandals fastened with gold buckles that matched the gown beautifully.
Then she stood with her arms stretched out as they draped and folded the silk gown around her, making pleats and folds as they wound it around her. By the time the belt was buckled around her waist, it was impossible to tell it was just a length of fabric. It fell as if it were a beautifully tailored gown made to fit her perfectly.
“The fabric’s exquisite. So smooth and soft. Luxurious,” said Chevaunne.
“Those colors suit you perfectly. With your brown hair, gray eyes, and creamy skin, red and gold are ideal for your coloring. You’re a beautiful bride indeed,” said Shiloah.
“I can’t wait until Jim, Sam, and Paul see you.” Kiri giggled.
“Oh, yes, look at the time. We need to go,” said Anh.
The three young women pushed Chevaunne ahead of them through the doorway and back into the living room. Jim, Sam, and Paul were lined up facing the entryway watching for her. All three had tight black pants on, topped with open-neck silk shirts with flowing sleeves. Jim’s was a deep blue, Sam’s bottle green, and Paul’s cream.
They looked totally delicious. Chevaunne’s belly tightened as her gaze rolled across their delightful forms, and honey seeped onto her panties. When she raised her gaze to their faces, her breath hitched in her throat. They looked totally absorbed in her as if they were starving and she was the only meal around.
Paul dropped to his knees in front of her. “Beautiful lady,” he said reverently kissing her hand.
Jim and Sam followed him across, Jim gently kissing her cheek and Sam content just to look at her.
Kiri giggled. “Told you so.”
Anh clapped her hands together sharply. “Come on. Father Yeshe will be waiting.”
Chevaunne ran her tongue along her lips, hoping she wasn’t drooling and glad of the rose ointment, which she hoped would hide the scent of her arousal. Obediently, she allowed the three women to lead her out of the house. She’d only seen the house and the barn where they’d parked the closed delivery truck. She hadn’t paid any attention to the surrounding farmland on the quick walk into the house, so now she was about to see her new home and her new community as well as attend her own wedding.
Her wedding. To three men. And this time yesterday she was finishing a nursing shift at the hospital, not knowing anything about any of them.
I hope I’m not making a terrible mistake. But it seems so right.
A very ordinary-looking wooden door in the barn opened into what appeared to be a closet. But when Jim tugged on a yellow bucket hanging from a hook, the back of the closet opened onto a staircase leading downward.