Read Online Beauty and the Beasts [Bride Train 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Reece Butler - Free Book Online

are a foot thick, and the doors are very sturdy.”
    “Sarah’s a very attractive single woman. She can’t stay there alone. I should—”
    “No!” Sophie shook her wooden spoon at him just like his mother used to. “Sarah found the confidence to buy her own business, and to move from Nora’s. I’ll not have men taking over her life again. Unless there’s a particular reason why she needs more protection, let her be. Do you understand me?”
    Gabe stared at the gravy dripping down the spoon’s handle. It made his mouth water in spite of his stomach being in a knot. When the drip reached Sophie’s hand she made a disgusted sound and turned back to her stove.
    Sarah had been locked in that Bannack City whorehouse for two weeks. When he was sixteen he spent about the same amount of time in jail. They’d both been attacked at night, but Sarah couldn’t defend herself as he had. He shivered, remembering the feeling of despair and vulnerability. Yes, he understood her need to prove she had control over her life. Even if the control was an illusion, it would give her strength to stand up to Sheldrake, Jennet, Rivers, and anyone else.
    “I’ll let things be for now,” he said quietly. “But if anything happens, I want to know. Sarah is under the Circle C’s protection. We won’t let her be hurt. By anyone.”
    Sophie nodded, but the tight set of her shoulders suggested she wasn’t happy. Well, neither was he. He breathed out his anger, forcing a calm he didn’t feel. After he left jail, he learned how to make his body obey his commands. He could never, ever, let go of himself again. He almost killed a man while in a rage. Even though he was protecting innocents, murder was still murder. Another few minutes and he would have been condemned to years behind bars. That alone would have killed him.
    Sophie coughed. The corner of her lip twitched. He frowned and looked closer. She bit her lip and looked away.
    “Is something funny?”
    “I know why you’re grumbling, Gabriel Downey.” She laughed.
    “And that would be…?”
    “You’re jealous of Billy.”
    “Why would I be jealous of a boy?”
    Sophie smirked. “Because he’s sleeping in the same room as Sarah. You want to be the one guarding her, and slaying her dragons.”
    Sleep with Sarah? If he was in the same room with her overnight, he wouldn’t want to be sleeping. His heart pounded, and his cock thickened again. Since those few minutes he held her in his arms, he’d spent too many nights dreaming of her. She would come to him for comfort and he would ease her mind the best way a man could. By proving his love, body and soul. The fact he’d never really kissed a woman might complicate things, but he was a fast learner.
    “Ah, Gabe.” Her smile dimmed. “You love her, don’t you?”
    He scratched at a spot on the table, his head down. “Whether I do or not doesn’t matter. Women want handsome, smooth-talking men like Luke used to be.”
    He remembered the women flocking to Luke like colorful butterflies. And there he’d be, standing on the sidelines like a big, hairy bear, watching. It only took a couple of rejections by horrified women for him to learn those women weren’t for him. Even though Sarah came into his arms easily that night, it was because he was her only hope of rescue. He had to keep his burning need for her to himself. But if she asked, he couldn’t say no. To anything.
    “Sarah’s a beautiful woman,” he said quietly. “She won’t want a beast like me.”
    Sophie walked over. She took his hand and looked at him. At least he saw compassion rather than the pity he expected.
    “Sarah cares for you, a lot.”
    “She cares about her cat even more,” he grumbled.
    Sophie chuckled. “Yes, and we’ve had discussions about that. Oliver means so much to her because she got him after she lost her family, was sold, attacked, rescued, and then had to learn to hold her head up in spite of it all. She thinks Oliver is the only