Read Monroe, Marla - Their Border Lands Gift [Men of the Border Lands 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) for Free Online

stopped in the middle of the road. Her heart was in her throat along with the blasted knot now. She couldn’t catch her breath.
    “It’s okay, Kate. Breathe through your nose so you don’t hyperventilate.” Mike was the voice of calm, but she’d seen his face turn white, so she knew he’d been as scared as she had been.
    “I want to go home, Mike.” Kate couldn’t unclench her fingers from the steering wheel.
    “Change seats with me and we will.” He climbed out of the passenger side and walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door.
    He had to help her unwrap her hands from the wheel then push her over to the other side of the truck. He turned them around toward home, and Kate began to calm down the closer they got to the house. She wasn’t sure she would ever be warm again, though. Ice ran through her veins at the realization that they could have been killed. She hadn’t even been that scared when she’d nearly been abducted all those times.
    As soon as they pulled into the front yard, she climbed out of the cab of the truck and ran inside the house. Mike chuckled behind her.
    “Don’t you dare laugh at me, Mike Shaw! You could have been killed if you hadn’t been able to get through that window when you did.”
    “It’s okay now, Kate. Let’s unload so we can get to bed. I’m tired. I know you are, too.”
    They spent the next two hours unloading everything. It was dark by the time they finished. She let Mike put things up while she fixed them something to eat. After dinner, they each took a quick bath and went straight to bed. Kate lay awake long enough to pray that she wouldn’t dream about the wolves. Then she fell into a dreamless sleep.

    * * * *

    Summer soon turned to fall, and Kate worked from sunup to sundown every day harvesting and canning everything possible. Mike had found a stash of blackberries, and she put up jelly as well as the vegetables from the garden. She fell into bed each night totally exhausted but pleased.
    Much to her disdain, though, Mike had made friends with several of the other settlers around the area, including two households of men. Everyone thought they were married, which suited Kate just fine. She wasn’t attracted to any of them. If she were interested in anyone it would be Marcus and Bruce, but they were off-limits.
    “What do you think about Roy and Evan? They’re real hard workers. Their place is in great shape,” Mike asked her after he’d been over to borrow their ax for the day.
    “No. I don’t like them. They’re loud and rowdy.”
    Mike huffed out a breath and walked off without saying anything. Disgust filled her at the thought of any of the men she’d met touching her. She just couldn’t see herself with any of them. Mike was quickly losing patience with her, she knew, but she still didn’t see why they couldn’t continue as they were.
    There was a knock at the door. Assuming it would be one of the men her husband had befriended, she opened the door to find Bruce standing on the front porch.
    “Don’t you look before you open a door? How do you know it’s not a total stranger?”
    “Kate, tell me you didn’t just open the door without looking!” Mike stormed into the living room.
    “You have people over here all the time. I assumed it was one of them.” She frowned at Bruce and stomped off.
    She heard the other man warning Mike to teach her to be more careful. She didn’t stick around to hear what else he had to say about her. She was pissed because he had been right. She shouldn’t have opened the door at all. The other men had warned Mike that strangers had been seen in the area lately.
    She busied herself in the kitchen while Mike talked to Bruce out on the front porch. She had no idea what they were talking about, but when Mike returned nearly an hour later, he was smiling.
    “What are you so happy about?”
    “Bruce and Marcus have cattle. We’re going to trade with them for a half a side of beef.”
    “What are