Free Their Border Lands Refuge [Men of the Border Lands 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Marla Monroe Page A

downstairs to start the soup. She would check on him again once she had it going.
    After putting the soup together on the stove, Skyler quickly cleaned up her mess and hurried back upstairs to check on Owen. He didn’t appear to have moved since she’d left him there nearly an hour before. Once again she sat by the bed and held his hand. She talked to him about what was going on how Simon was tending to everything while he was sick.
    “It snowed last night. Not a lot, but a good two inches. I can’t imagine what Simon is going to do when it gets deeper. He’s really going to need your help when that happens, Owen.” She paused and sighed. “I hope you can hear me. I miss you so much.”
    The hand in hers jumped then closed into a loose fist before relaxing once again. Tears pricked at her eyes as she hugged his now-lax hand against her breasts. He was in there and slowly waking up. Everything would eventually be okay. She just knew it.
    The slamming of a door downstairs had her jerking in the chair. She could feel her heart thumping painfully in her chest before the deep voice of Simon called up the stairs.
    “Sky. You up there?”
    “Coming!” She kissed Owen’s cheek and after replacing his hand beneath the covers, hurried toward the stairs.
    Simon was already halfway up when she reached them. He looked haggard and a bit worried until he saw her. Then his eyes brightened.
    “There you are. How is Owen doing?”
    “He’s waking up, Simon!” She clasped his hands in hers as he reached the landing.
    “How can you tell?”
    “He’s squeezed my hand a couple of times when I’ve been talking to him and his eyes have fluttered.”
    He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. “That’s great news, baby.”
    They walked back into the bedroom together. Simon bent over the bed as she pulled Owen’s hand back out. She looked up at the other man and smiled.
    “Owen, you need to wake your lazy ass up now. I’m tired of doing all the work around here. Besides, Skyler is worried about you. She’s not sleeping well.”
    “Look, Simon. See? He’s squeezing my hand.”
    She watched Simon’s face as he looked at where Owen was indeed squeezing her hand in a light grip. Then he released it and made a soft moaning sound. She held his hand to her breast as she watched his face. His eyes fluttered open for a few seconds before closing again. They waited for several long seconds, but he didn’t do anything else.
    “He’s probably worn out from doing all of that. Let’s let him rest again. I need to get back outside soon anyway.”
    “I have soup on the stove and will make you a couple of sandwiches to eat with it.”
    Skyler hurried back to the kitchen and poured up a bowl of soup for Simon before making the sandwiches. By the time he had returned to the kitchen after cleaning up, she had lunch on the table waiting on him. He smiled and sat down then frowned and looked up at her.
    “Where’s yours? You need to eat, too, Sky.”
    “I’m not really hungry right now. I’ll fix something in a little while. Eat up. There’s plenty for seconds.” She started to turn away, but a hand on her arm stopped her.
    “Fix a bowl of soup and sit down with me, Skyler. I mean it. I’m not eating ’til you are sitting at this table with me.”
    She looked down into his eyes and could see the resolve flashing back at her. With a soft sigh, she nodded. As soon as he had released her arm, Skyler crossed the kitchen and pulled down a bowl from the cabinet. She dipped up a bowl of the beef and vegetable soup before joining Simon at the table. As soon as she sat down, he squeezed her hand and started eating. Still, he didn’t take his eyes off of her until she had started feeding herself from the bowl.
    “Sometimes you are so annoying with your demands.”
    “Sometimes you are so annoying with your disregard for your health and safety. I’m not going to allow you to starve yourself or do anything that will put you in