Beauty and the Beasts [Bride Train 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Reece Butler

kisser,” said Oz, still taunting him. “You’re not, of course.”
    Luke fought to get loose and wipe the insolence off Oz’s face.
    “Oz, shut up,” said Gabe calmly. “Luke, stand down. Oz took advantage of the opportunity, but he got the job done. No decent man will bother Sarah now.”
    Luke glared at Oz, promising retribution, but relaxed his arm. Gabe let him go.
    “I’m going into town tomorrow and tell her to get used to the idea of becoming Mrs. Luke Frost!”
    “I’d think twice on that,” drawled Gabe. “The lady told you she won’t marry.”
    “She’ll change her mind once I tell her I won’t take away her bakery after our wedding.”
    “You’d let her work in town?”
    Luke shrugged off’s Gabe’s question. “I didn’t say that. Once she marries me, I could sign the building over to her. She could rent it out for pin money.”
    “Sarah wants to run her bakery as a business. Her business,” said Gabe. “She won’t marry you or anyone else who’d take away something so important to her.”
    “She won’t have time to work there, especially after we have a baby or two.” Luke looked at his partners, who stared back.
    “They might end up being our babies, instead of yours,” said Oz. He laughed when Gabe, caught in mid-swallow, choked on his coffee.
    “You’d better get your chores done before that eye closes,” ordered Luke.
    Oz gave Luke a flippant salute and headed for the barn.
    “You want to marry Miss Sarah so bad, but you’re not going about it right,” said Gabe after the door slammed behind Oz. “Sarah needs a better reason to give up her dream than giving you sons.”
    Luke shrugged off the complaint. “Marriage is a business arrangement. My mother and father married to improve both their families. So did my grandparents, and great-grandparents. Sarah meets my needs, and then some. Why shouldn’t we marry?”
    “And how do you meet Sarah’s needs?”
    Luke hadn’t given that much thought, but figured she was like the women he knew back East. “From what Oz said about that kiss, whatever happened to Sarah in Bannack City didn’t kill off her interest in sex. If she wants a man in her bed, and children, she needs a husband.”
    “No, she doesn’t,” said Gabe, his face and ears reddening.
    “Are you going to offer your stud services?” Luke laughed at Gabe’s discomfort. “She has a lot more experience than you. Hell, you ran out on her this morning!”
    “She took me by surprise. I’m a fast learner, and I respect her. Do you?”
    Luke looked at the floor. “Yes, I do,” he said quietly. “Having family means so much to me that sometimes I get my mind on that and everything else goes out the window.”
    “So start thinking before flapping your jaws.”
    Luke shrugged off the old complaint. “If Sarah wants to keep that bakery, she has to marry someone. The town council will shut her down if she stays single. Why not marry me? I’d never do anything to hurt her.” Luke stacked the plates and cups for washing.
    “Not on purpose.”
    “You’re saying I’d hurt her without knowing it?” He dumped the dishes into the pan.
    Gabe shook his head. “She says she can take care of herself, and she needs to believe that. In order to feel safe, she needs to think she’s in control. You want to take over making her decisions. That destroys her sense of control, and safety.”
    “Control?” Luke snorted a laugh. “She’s a woman. That means she’s always in danger. Knowing we’ll come after them and take vengeance stops most men, but there’s always some who’ll try to hurt a woman just because they can.”
    “Like that Joe Sheldrake.” Gabe shook his head. “Never met the man, but I heard he’ll be coming to town to check Miss Sarah out, for sure. One kiss by Oz isn’t going to stop him. He’ll take it as a challenge.”
    “If he goes near her I’ll—”
    “Get pummeled into the dirt? And how would that help her? We have to keep an eye