Free Brown, Berengaria - Possess Me [Possessive Passions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Berengaria Brown

Orna’s. Shiloah waited outside her mama’s bedroom door.
    Orna’s sobs were muffled, but to hear her mama crying almost broke Shiloah’s heart. She flung open the door and ran to her mama, pulling her into her arms and hugging her. “Oh, Mama, please don’t cry. If it upsets you so much, we can stay inside, never go out, not grow roses, give up the business. Anything is better than you being so sad. Please, Mama, please don’t weep.”
    Shiloah hugged her mama to her as if she was the mother and Orna the hurt child. And Shiloah knew her mother was hurt, that the loss of her husbands had been a terrible trauma for her made worse by having them come home so broken in health and spirits, only to watch them die.
    She felt the solid presence of Goa and Stan standing behind her, their big hands resting on her shoulders.
    “Orna, if being here is too hard for you, too painful for you, we’ll give up the farm and move back into the community. We’ll tell Sompel we’d rather stay inside and work at whatever jobs are available. You’re our responsibility now, Orna, and it’s important to us that you’re free to be happy. We can meet with Sompel tomorrow and arrange to move back underground. You and Shiloah can return first thing tomorrow. We’ll find someone you can stay with until Stan and I can move everything back,” said Goa.
    Orna raised red, puffy, tear-drenched eyes to Stan and Goa. “But–But… But being here was your greatest wish. You were both so excited to be farming again.”
    “That’s true. But if our family isn’t happy, it’s not worth it. You are part of our family now, and your happiness is very important to us.”
    “Father Yeshe explained that my fears are unreasonable, but I still worry. I keep remembering what the people said and did to Bhuwan and Tshering. How they said our way of life was evil and depraved and that they weren’t real men because they shared a woman. How can it be right for women to share a man yet wrong for men to share a woman? That doesn’t make sense!”
    “Angry people don’t always think logically, Orna.” Stan sat beside her on the bed and gently stroked her hair. “Our way of life encourages stability and prosperity. When there are several husbands, a woman is always supported. When one man is busy at work or on the farm, another husband can attend to her needs and be available to help her. When there are children, there are more parents to help care for them. No son is dispossessed and homeless. Angry people see only our wealth and happiness and never look beneath these things to the fact that it’s our way of life that ensures such good outcomes.”
    “The people of Green Ridge aren’t like the ones you knew, Mama. Ugyen has lived here all his long life, and no one ever spoke against him. George and Wang know the outside people and see them in the store each day, and no one complains about their lifestyle. Chevaunne takes her friends to eat at the little café in Green Ridge, and no one has ever been rude to her.”
    “Father Yeshe said there had never been complaints about New Thimphu from the locals. Admittedly, they don’t know everything about us, but they aren’t stupid. They know each of the above-ground families has more men than women living in the houses. Likely, some of them have never bothered to think about us or work it out, but others must have. They see us as a quiet, self-contained community, maybe a little different, but basically harmless,” added Goa.
    “Chevaunne said she wondered if some of the Green Ridge people thought we were a predominantly gay community with just a few married couples and families,” said Shiloah.
    “It doesn’t matter what they think or don’t think, the bottom line is there has never been prejudice or trouble. Nonetheless, if you aren’t happy, Orna, we will move back inside New Thimphu starting tomorrow,” said Goa.
    “No, don’t do that, I know how much this means to you all. I’m just a