Chasing Emily [Duoterra 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (10 page)

“I was going to come and see you, anyway,” Morgan told her, ignoring the men.

“Oh, why’s that?” Emily asked, her sulkiness clearly forgotten and replaced with concern that she might have done something wrong.

“Well now. I’ve heard a rumor.”

“I bought this place legally,” she retorted quickly.

“Yes, I know you did. I checked the paperwork. No, this is a story that you might be pregnant.”

Finn swiveled his head to stare thunderstruck at Robin who guessed that his own face probably looked similar.
Emily is too old to have children. Isn’t she?
Her son, Derek, was not much younger than him.

They both turned to gape at Emily almost as one person. She looked scared, and he saw her swallowing almost nervously, one hand convulsively fisting in her skirt, the other one covering her stomach as if to hide any bump. He couldn’t resist gazing at her waist as if to ascertain the truth of the accusation.

“Why ever would you think that? Anyhow, a woman of my age doesn’t get pregnant,” she declared dismissively.

But Robin knew Emily well, and her countenance was one of guilt with a mixture of subterfuge as she refused to look anyone in the eye.
Holy shit. She is!
She really is expecting a child.
As he stared at her, his jaw dropped in amazement. She glanced at him and stepped back a few steps as if to distance herself from him and the other two.

“From what I’ve heard you’ve been throwing up in the mornings.
Every
morning if what I’ve heard is true,” said Morgan pointedly.

“There’s more than one cause for nausea,” she declared her chin jutting out in defiance, crossing her arms tightly over her body. “I heard there’s flu or something going around. Weren’t there some visitors from Forestedge who arrived and practically collapsed in front of the government building, sweating and sneezing and coughing much to the horror of the
worthy
gentlemen inside?”

Duoterra was run by a “government” made up of three members from each of the townships, which encompassed the homesteads in their areas. The mayor of each town was usually one of these three people who served for a term of office lasting five years. When this had been instigated, pretty much equal amounts of men and women had been elected. This had gradually whittled down until only one woman made up the eighteen-strong government—a senate of people who agreed the laws on the planet. Laws like the stupid one about all unmarried women being forced to marry.

“Yep, but in that case, why aren’t you sick
all
the time? Anyway, those people who had been ill have moved on, and there haven’t been any new cases. There’s also the matter of you looking very pale lately and turning your head up at hot moss tea, which you used to love, I believe.”

“You’ve been watching me?” The tremor in her voice belied her fears.

Even Robin was concerned about why the law enforcer would have been keeping an eye on Emily.

“An unattached woman who suddenly appears pregnant is my business, as you know full well, and I am guessing from your expression that it’s quite probable that you are with child.”

As he impatiently watched Emily, Robin shuffled his feet. He was aware of Finn’s tense stance next to him as they both waited for her to confirm—or deny—Morgan’s accusation.

She hesitated, and he nearly stormed forward to shake it out of her. Finally she blurted out, “All right. So what if I say that I
might
be? What’s it got to do with any of you?” Emily gestured a sweeping hand over the three men.

Robin heard Finn swear beside him and silently joined him as he mentally tried adding up the figures.
Could the father be me?
His mind was a mush of emotions, and he couldn’t do the arithmetic easily.
Dammit! How long has it been since that time at the grotto?

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself and thought back. Okay
,
it was only a few weeks, probably three or four. Would she know so soon? Or had she already been pregnant when they had made love and was that the reason she had skipped out of town? That made him start. So who was the real father then?

His mind was full of questions all falling over themselves. He wanted to go to her and confront her. He was sick with the thought that she might be expecting some other man’s child, knowing there was every likelihood and a number of possible culprits.

“It’s got plenty to do with us,” Morgan stated dryly, a hand on his hip as he stood up to her. “I have to uphold the law, and you are breaking it by having a child out of wedlock.”

That stopped Robin short, and he looked at Morgan in shock.
Hell!
She might be sent to the brothel. It suddenly didn’t matter if he wasn’t the father. He still wanted her, although he would dearly have loved to be the father to her child. But it was important to keep her safe.

“And if what these two are saying is true, I’m guessing that the father might be one of them. Am I right?”

Robin held his breath awaiting Emily’s answer. His heart thumped fiercely, and the palms of his hands went clammy. It seemed like hours before she responded.

Emily swallowed in fear. Her heart was beating violently making her a little sick. She fought back the nausea that had plagued her lately, but for an entirely different reason this time. Both Finn and Robin were staring at her intently, waiting for her answer with bated breath.

Dammit! Why hadn’t I taken any dried red spider plant?
Because she had a few other things on her mind—like how to avoid an unwanted marriage.

If she spoke the truth now, then she might be stuck with these two men. She probably couldn’t get away with pretending she wasn’t pregnant, although in truth she wasn’t entirely sure if she was carrying a child or had just caught the illness that had been going around. However, she remembered from the past that she’d had morning sickness at around week three, even though it wasn’t usual for a woman to have it that early on, but not unheard of. It certainly fitted in with what was happening now.

That, and the fact that she hadn’t had her monthly bleed yet—her monthly proof that God was a man, or otherwise, he wouldn’t have made women to suffer this way—and it had been due ten days ago. Ten long days during which she prayed fiercely for her bleed to come, and she had sworn violently each morning when nothing appeared.

She cursed the fact that she was always exactly on time, and she didn’t think she was starting menopause yet.

Of course, she could try lying and state that the father was neither of them, but someone else altogether, except that Morgan would probably haul her back to Frontier to make her marry the father, only to discover she had been deceitful, and it had to be one of these two. She might be known as the town tart, but she didn’t have sex that often.

There was an even worse concern—that her child might be taken from her when born and Emily declared unfit to be its mother. That’s if she went full-term this time and the child was born alive.

She swallowed back some bile.
Christ
.
None of those options are good.
She shivered, feeling damp in her wet dress, wishing this was all over and she could go and get changed.

Suddenly she felt weary and couldn’t hold out any longer. She slumped over a chair, her hands gripping the back as she dipped her head and quietly admitted, “Yes, it’s one of them.”

“But which one?” the law enforcer persisted.

She laughed harshly as she raised her head and looked Morgan straight in the eye. “Considering I had sex with one and then the second within a day of each other, even you should know there is no way of telling. So Morgan, what you gonna do about
that
?” she threw back at him.

Annoyingly he just smiled back as he crossed his arms. “Oh that makes it very simple. You have to marry
both
of them.”

“Whaaaat!” Her horrified reply was drowned out by each of the men who could be the father of her child.

“No way in hell am I sharing Emily with
him
!” stated Robin vociferously, jerking his thumb to gesture at Finn dismissively.

“You think
I
want to be in a marriage contract with
you
.” Finn glared at Robin, obviously annoyed, too, by the situation as he stepped forward to poke a finger at the other man’s chest.

Emily nearly laughed out loud. The two men were facing each other in what could be best described as a standoff, each glaring at the other, their bodies tense in readiness for a fight. They’d never get through the marriage ceremony before they murdered each other.

Now
that
would be the answer to her prayers, and she grinned to herself.

Clearly the same thought occurred to Morgan. “I don’t care whether you two kill each other before the day is out as long as Emily is properly married,” he declared, his tone showing his exasperation with their shenanigans.

Her smile disappeared. If a miracle occurred, and they were still alive at that stage, she’d give them a day—twenty-five hours—before one of them stomped off leaving her with the other. And that situation wasn’t any better since the remaining one would probably take over her life, expecting her to be a sweet, compliant wife like most of the women on the planet.

Emily pouted. Well, she had managed to escape the first attempt to marry her off. She could get out of this one, too, and started to surreptitiously stand upright, readying herself to flee if the opportunity presented itself. All she needed to do was agree to the marriage, and while the others were running around sorting out arrangements, she’d silently slip away.

It was a shame to be leaving the bar when she’d just started to get it working her way, but it couldn’t be helped, although she had no idea where she’d go to this time. She was running out of towns to flee to.

“Jamie, get in here,” Morgan suddenly yelled, making Emily jump. When a young man pushed through the crowd as directed, Morgan continued, “Go to my office and get a marriage contract from the top drawer. We are conducting this marriage
here and now
.”

Stumbling into the chair behind her as her legs gave way Emily’s voice was weak when she exclaimed, “What—
now?
”

The law enforcer glanced down at her and had an annoying, supercilious grin as he said, “Oh yes, my dear, I don’t trust you one inch. I’m making sure you are hitched to these two before any of you get away from me.”

“But I don’t want to be married to
either
of these men.”

“You should have thought of that before you slept with them.”

“Sleeping” wasn’t something that had happened, more’s the pity, she thought angrily. She grimaced and tried another tack putting on her best coy voice, the one she used when she wanted to get around someone. Dropping her pitch, she softly suggested, “How about I just leave and take the problem elsewhere out of your hair?”

She glanced up under her lashes, twirling a lock of hair to complete the enticing look.

Unfortunately Morgan’s expression wasn’t looking good. “Uh-uh. No can do. You’ve been getting away with murder—or sex—far too long. It’s time to stop, Emily. Your child will need a father.”

Damn, damn, damn, damn.

Jamie came back double-quick waving the offending marriage contract in the air. “Got it,” he yelled excitedly.

And damn him. Damn all men.
She crossed her arms angrily, all attempts at subterfuge dropped.

Morgan took the document from his assistant and moved to spread it open on the bar. Robin and Finn were looking at the law enforcer, so Emily quietly rose to her feet, wondering if she could slip out the back, but that would mean going past the three men. She made a face. That wouldn’t work. There was only one thing for it—to make a sudden break through the crowd.

Pulling a pencil from his pocket Morgan wrote on the document. “Right. Do you, Emily…
Emily
,
where exactly do you think you are going?”

She stood halted in her attempt at a silent exit. She’d made it halfway to the front door.

Shit!

Stalking over to her, Morgan dragged her back toward the counter. “Remove any thoughts of getting out of this marriage from your head. Now where was I?” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Hell. I can’t be doing with all the usual fuss. I’ll make this short and sweet since this is not exactly a loving relationship but one of expediency, and I need to get this done before I lose you. Emily DuBois, do you take these men to be your husbands?”

“No.”

All three men stared at her with a mixture of expressions. Morgan irritated, Finn bemused, Robin uncertain.

She shrugged. “If you’re asking me, then the answer is no. But I don’t exactly have a say in this,
do I
?” Her misery was obvious in her voice even to her own ears.

“No, you damn well don’t. In that case we’ll skip your permission.” Morgan turned to Finn and Robin. “Okay, your turn. Do you, er…Names?”