When the front screen door slapped shut, he turned to catch Damon storming out of the house.
Damon paced in circles, kicking at the kindling left on the ground. “You were right,” he said. “Don’t bother gloating because I already feel like shit.”
“What are you blathering about?”
“I asked her to stay. Asked her to be our woman.”
Fuck. He should have expected this, but he thought his brother would listen to his advice to take things slowly. He’d jumped the gun and scared her off.
“What she say?”
“That she has a life in the city. I don’t think there’s a woman alive who’d want to live out here.” Damon yanked off his shirt, balled it up and whipped it in on the ground. “She was perfect, Caleb. I thought she was the one.”
“You’ll catch your death of a cold. Get inside,” said Caleb.
“No, I need to run.”
Caleb watched his brother walk off in just a tank top and jeans. He didn’t bother trying to stop him. This was exactly what he feared, watching his brother lose hope.
He tugged off his work gloves and made his way to the porch. Their little guest was done playing games. He’d stayed out of his brother’s courting, taking the road of caution, but now it was time to intervene. Time to set their flighty dove straight.
Once he entered the house, silence settled in immediately. He wasn’t good with emotions. Where Damon usually wore his heart on his sleeve, Caleb kept his walls firmly in place. Ever since their parents were killed, their lives had been a whirlwind. He’d closed his heart off the best he could, the only way his fourteen-year-old self knew how to cope with so many devastating changes. His only constant had been Damon, and it killed him to watch him suffer.
“You’re feeling better?” he asked when he spotted Opal standing near the fireplace. The fire had petered out, only the red glow of ashes left behind.
“Yes, thank you.” She wouldn’t look at him, still glancing down at the embers.
He hung up his jacket and then grabbed his supplies near the door before kneeling in front of the fireplace. “Storm’s coming. I’ll keep a good fire going so you stay nice and warm.” Caleb added some kindling, blowing slightly, building the fire back to life. Within minutes, he was ready to add full logs to the flames.
“It smells so good,” she said.
He stood back up, brushing some ashes off his jeans. “The best smell.” It reminded him of family, Christmas, and happiness to name a few.
She swallowed hard, finally looking up at him.
Such pretty green eyes.
“Maybe I should leave before the storm. Will a taxi come way out here?”
“There ain’t no taxi service out here, Opal. Take a look around. We own thousands of acres and there are countless more surrounding that.”
“How will I get home?”
He shrugged. “Looks like you’re stuck.”
“I can’t stay forever,” she said.
Caleb moved forward, forcing her to back up against the wall. “How old are you? Twenty?”
“Twenty-two.”
He was almost twice her age, and he didn’t give a fuck. Caleb may not announce it to his brother, but he wanted Opal and planned on keeping her. Every day he grew more and more attached, convinced she’d meld perfectly in their lives. She was young, innocent, a blank slate … perfect for their mate, the mother of their children.
Damon was passionate, cutting her loose too easily. He’d swooped in fast but backed off without a fight. Caleb knew better. They needed to seize what they wanted in life or it would pass them by. He wasn’t sure what game Opal was playing, because he could read her like a book. When she thought he wasn’t looking, he could see the way she sized them up, desire in her eyes. She wanted them just as much. They could give her everything she needed, likely more than she had roughing it in the big smoke.
“You’re young,” he said. “You need a man to take care of you.”
“Is that you?” she whispered, looking up, daring him with her eyes.
“It’s me and Damon.” He stated the fact, waiting for her to protest, but she didn’t.
“How can you protect me here? Everything probably wants to kill or eat me,” she said.
Caleb shook his head. “You’d be surprised. With a little common sense, we all get along just fine. The only danger here, like the city, are people, not animals. But don’t worry your pretty head, because we’ll protect you from them, too.”
Besides the usual issues with squatters and drifters, they had relentless loggers pushing them to sell a good-sized chunk of their land on the west end. It wasn’t going to happen.
“This is fast and crazy and doesn’t make sense.” She was rambling, trying to make excuses when he knew what she wanted. Why did she have to complicate something so simple?
He braced a hand against the wall close to her head. Caleb leaned in, brushing his lips against her ear. “If you leave, you’ll destroy my brother. He thinks he’s in love.”
“Did he say that?”
“He asked you to stay, no? You refused. I’ve never seen him this broken—not since our parents were killed. He’s usually abnormally upbeat.”
“I’m sorry about your parents … and Damon. I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” she said. “I’m not going to fix anything by staying. He hardly knows me. I’m just a woman.”
“That’s all we want, baby doll. Life out here is rough, but it’s perfect. Almost perfect. We need that missing piece, a woman to share, a mother for our children.”
“And if you’d found a different woman in the woods?”
He smiled. Her insecurities were endearing. “We would have driven her to town so she could get the help she needed.”
“How am I different, Caleb?”
The sound of his name on her lips made his cock strain in his jeans. He’d been pent up for years, starting to feel like a monk rather than a man with base needs. Somewhere along the line, he’d given up hope. It was Damon who kept them together, convinced their day would come. To see him give up, his zest fizzled away, tilted everything off its axis. Caleb had to fix this for all three of them.
“I’m not one for fairy tales and such, but surely you’ve heard of love at first sight?”
She frowned, unconvinced. “Love? If I had to guess, I’d say you hated me. I hardly ever see you smile.”
He couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Caleb ran a hand through her dark hair, still slightly damp from her bath. She didn’t pull away. “Just protecting myself. No sense giving you my heart if you plan to run away.”
“And if I stayed?” She wet her lips—plump, pink lips.
“We’d take care of you, love you … pleasure you. Me and Damon have been on our own for a long time. Too long. It would mean everything to have a family again.”
****
Damon had blown off some much needed steam. Getting deep in the heart of nature always seemed to calm him. He wasn’t sure why Opal got to him on such an elemental level. He’d fucked around with women alone and with Caleb and he’d never looked back. Never cared once they parted ways. But their dark-haired beauty had gotten under his skin. Something about her called to him, demanded he claim her as his woman.