Mail-Order Bride [Taos Wolven Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (19 page)

Joe was large, and he was a good protector for the girls in the house, but he wasn’t too bright. Dana suspected it was because he’d taken one knock on the head too many while protecting the women from harm.

“Don’t worry about that, Joe.” She cast a look about her. “These men are here to protect me. Besides, I just came from my father’s house, and John is dead.”

“Dead?” Joe’s eyes grew larger, if that was possible. Then he smiled. “Then that means you own this house, doesn’t it?” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Are you here to close up shop then?” His face fell when he realized the implications of that action. “Will I have to find someplace else to live?”

“No, Joe.” Dana gave him a quick hug. “I wouldn’t be here now if not for you helping me get away.” She turned to give the men around her a look that she hoped told them she meant everything she was about to say, before turning back to Joe. “I plan to take you back to the Dakotas with us.” She bit her lip as she thought of all of the girls here. “I plan to take everyone here who wants to go with us.”

Well, everyone but Agatha. That old woman had been John’s right hand all these years. Dana had the feeling that the woman liked her profession.

“We need to wake up the girls.” She reached past him to open the door.

The men followed her into the house. Dana wrinkled her nose. It was just as she’d left it. The downstairs reeked of stale liquor, tobacco smoke, sweat, and sex. The odor almost made her gag.

Wasting no time, she marched up the stairs and pounded on every door she passed on her way down the hall, making certain to give Agatha’s room a wide berth. Heading to the next set of stairs, she made her way up to the stifling third floor and woke the girls there as well.

“Follow me,” she said as she made her way back down the stairs. “I have something to tell you all.”

Obviously curious, the women followed her down to the second floor. On the second floor, Dana eyed the women as they stood in their doorways. All of them were in varying shades of undress, but that wasn’t what made her frown.

“Where’s Emily?” Of all the women here, Emily had been the one closest to her age and the nicest.

“Samuel Perkins beat the living hell outta her last night. She’s in the kitchen. The poor thing couldn’t even make it up the stairs,” Helena said as she examined Dana’s mates and the other two men that accompanied her up the stairs. She didn’t seem particularly upset, but then this sort of thing happened quite often.

Strong men drank and brawled with other men. Weak men drank and beat up women. It was a sorry fact of life.

Helena smiled at the men, stepped back and opened her door wider. “Come on in boys. I just might give you a good time for free.”

Clenching her fists, Dana stepped forward and practically growled. “Believe it or not, Helena, not all men want you for just your body.”

The smile faded from Helena’s face. “I’m sorry, Dana. You know how your uncle is. I thought this was some sort of test.”

“It’s no test. I have something to say to you all.”

“Then say it. We’re all here.”

“No you aren’t. Follow me to the kitchen. I only want to say this once.” Dana whirled around and hurried down the stairs. She needed to see Emily. If her friend was injured beyond healing, Dana didn’t know if she could ever forgive herself for not insisting the other woman go with her.

Her first sight of her friend made her gasp. “Emmy!”

Emily lay on a cot nest to the stove. With her face bruised, and her eyes swelled shut, Dana didn’t know if the other woman was awake or not. Emily wheezed as she drew in a shallow breath.

“Is that you, Dana?” Her fingers clenched and unclenched on the blanket. “You can’t be here. You’re safe. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Shh…” Dana knelt next to her, ignoring the fact that, as usual, the kitchen floor was a mess. “It’s all right, Emmy. I have protection, and John is dead.”

“Dead?” Emily reached up to blindly grasp her sleeve. “He’s dead?” She tried to smile and groaned when her lip split open and started to bleed. “Thank god.”

“Yes,” Dana said with a smile. “Now I own this house and every other house like this one that John owned. I’m closing them all down.”

Caroline stepped up. “You can’t! How will we live? No one will hire us for real jobs knowing what we’ve been.” She twisted her fingers as she looked around at them all. “You can’t just throw us out in the street.”

“No,” Dana agreed. “I can’t just throw you all out in the street.” She took Emily’s hand and smiled. “I plan to divide John’s money and give it to you all. I’ll sell the houses and divide that money as well. Plus, if you still don’t know where to go or what to do, we would love to have you join us in the Dakota Territory.” She looked at the men accompanying her and smiled. “You needn’t fear the natives. My friends have worked out an agreement with them. We will be safe.”

Emily squeezed her hand. “This…this is a dream come true.”

“Yes, Miss Emily, and you need never fear a man ever again,” the chancellor, Maxim Marholt, said as he entered the Kitchen. He looked at Dana and bowed. “I commend you on your kindness and generosity.” He looked at each and every one of Agatha’s girls. “Any and all of you are welcome to accompany us to the town we hope to build out west. We will need people to help us populate it.” He smiled. “Especially women. There are very few women in the west.” He turned to his triad mate. “What do you think, Matteus?” he asked, his speech less formal now that he’d been on Earth for several months. “Do you think this a good end to our mission?”

Matteus moved up beside him and grinned. “No, Maxim. I think
this
is just the beginning.”

THE END

WWW.TIANNAXANDER.COM

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/TIANNAXANDER

WWW.TWITTER.COM/#!/TIANNAXANDER

Tianna Xander is an eclectic, multipublished and award-winning author. She loves to read and especially loves camping. There’s just something about getting out into the great outdoors with a laptop and a pair of headphones. Harassed by her muse daily, she rarely puts the pen down, meaning there will be much more from her in the future.

She’ll be the first to admit that, when she
does
set the pen down or her muse has momentarily deserted her, she spends too much time on Facebook and occasionally Twitter, chatting with her online friends or just plain goofing off and playing Facebook games.

Having written several novels and working on at least one more at any given time, Tianna still finds time for her family, friends, and her many pets. She currently lives in Michigan with her family, four cats, a German shepherd dog, and a raisin addict disguised as a Netherland Dwarf bunny named Babs.
 

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com