Their Independent Bride [The Men of Space Station One #6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Marla Monroe Page B

They looked at them and agreed it was the size of a small dog.
    “I don’t like the idea of leaving the women alone during the day,” Kirk said.
    “Neither do we. The only thing is they have to work the garden or we won’t have anything to eat,” Steven commented.
    “What do you think about one of us staying behind every day and the other two working on the house?” Brad asked.
    “We all agreed to work on the house as a team when they chose us. I don’t think they are going to accept anything less. Plus, they have people arriving every six months. They’re going to have to have somewhere to stay.” Greg shook his head.
    They discussed possibilities and finally settled on teaching the women how to shoot a gun as the first line of defense. They needed another gun since they only had one per household.
    “Maybe we should think about going into the town and getting another one,” Steven suggested.
    They each thought that was probably a good idea. Then they discussed when to start work on the house. They agreed to start the day after next. About that time, the women returned with coffee for each of them.
    It wasn’t long before Kirk decided it was time to leave.
    “We’ve had a good visit. Thanks for having us over.”
    “You’re welcome anytime you want to visit.” Greg stood up and shook their hands.
    Steven decided they’d had a productive meeting even though he wasn’t really satisfied with their decision on keeping the women safe. He didn’t think the others were taking the animal situation as seriously as they should.
    Once they had left, Greg shook his head. “I don’t think they realize the danger the women are in.”
    “I don’t, either. I was just thinking the same thing.”
    “It’s late. We need to head up and shower. I want to go over the supplies and make a list of things we know we are going to need our next trip into town.”
    “I’ll get Janet. She’s cleaning up the kitchen. Her limp is worse. She needs to get off that foot again.” Steven headed toward the kitchen just as he heard a crash.
    Both he and Greg ran for the other room. When they arrived, it was to find Janet sprawled on the floor amid a broken coffee cup.
    “Don’t move, baby. There’s glass all around you.” Greg grabbed a broom from the washroom and began to sweep up the glass to get it away from her.
    Steven cringed at the sight of her tears. He hoped she wasn’t badly hurt. As soon as Greg had the worst of the glass out of the way, Steven reached down and picked her up. He carried her over to the kitchen table and sat her on it.
    “What in the world happened, Janet?”
    “I was carrying the cups to the sink, and when I put pressure on my ankle, it just gave out and I fell. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break the cups.” She began to cry in earnest now.
    “Don’t worry about the fucking coffee cup, baby. All that matters is how badly you’re hurt.”
    Steven winced at Greg’s voice. He didn’t know when he had developed such tender feelings toward Janet, but he found that he didn’t want to dominate her all the time now. He also worried about Greg’s aggressiveness with her even though it had never bothered him before with other women.
    He knew Greg genuinely liked and cared about her, but he wasn’t sure how deeply and how much his attitude and behavior would mellow. He hoped it would mellow some. Watching him feed her the day before had hinted at the tenderness he could show their wife if he tried. He hesitated in talking to him about it. He didn’t want to make it worse. He would give it some time.
    “Have you cut yourself anywhere?” Greg asked.
    “I don’t think so. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
    “I know you didn’t.” Greg sighed. “You shouldn’t have been trying to clean up. You should have left it for us to do and gotten off your ankle.”
    “Well, I didn’t, so stop yelling at me.”
    “Easy, everyone.” Steve ran his hands over Janet’s hair. “We’re just worried