Adams, Eve - Patience is Their Virtue [Brides of Bachelor Bay 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

“I take mine with four sugars,” Ron growled and spiked his graying brow at her.

“A sweet tooth, Mr. Arnett?”

Those beady black eyes shined at her. He even straightened the few gray hairs he had on his head. “A sweet everything, Mrs. Steele.”

Jesus Christ.
The man had the nerve to flirt right back with Adam’s wife, and right in front of him. The need to kill sliced into Adam’s resolve. “You’ll take it black and like it. Patience, that will be all.”

She stuck out her lower lip and batted her eyes at him, making sure the rest of the room saw her act as well. Ron and Caleb and even Miles all snapped their expressions into concerned frowns. Adam rolled his eyes and thinned his lips.

“At least let me serve you, my darling.” When she spiked her brow, he didn’t know whether to drink anything she put in front of him or not.

But having her serve him in front of the rest of the council would serve its purpose. With a resolved sigh, he nodded. “That would be fine.”

She poured the coffee, her bold gaze never leaving his. He flicked a glance down at his cup just as she stopped the flow, leaving enough room for milk and sugar. She scooped several heaping teaspoons of sugar into his cup before adding the milk and then stirred.

At last, she set the spoon down and stepped back. “Enjoy.”

He didn’t want to taste it, but everyone else in the room watched him. He had no choice but to lift the cup to his lips and take a careful sip.

It took all his restraint to not spit the liquid back into the cup. With extreme force, he swallowed down what he had in his mouth and fought not to gag. The little vixen had replaced the sugar with salt.

“What do you think?”

Oh, she was surely going to pay for this. He couldn’t wait to get her alone, where he and Raven could make sure they punished her for her behavior today. Apparently, she hadn’t learned her lesson from earlier.

“It’s the best coffee you’ve ever made, my dear. I know you’ve had challenges with your skills in the kitchen.”

She lost her smile, and he knew he’d pay for that comment. It both thrilled and intrigued him. Patience Steele had an entirely different side of her, a side he’d never seen before and he couldn’t wait to see more of—just not in front of the entire council.

“My dear, I believe I see something in the sugar. Will you please replace it with a fresh bowl?”

She narrowed her gaze at him as he clearly foiled her plan. Without anything else to argue about, Patience grabbed the sugar bowl and smiled sweetly. “Yes, my darling. Gentlemen, please excuse me.”

All of the men jumped to their feet, even Logan. Adam understood why. No doubt Logan recognized when a woman had been pushed too far. He’d married the most outspoken, short-fused of all the brides.

Once Patience left the room, the men took their seats.

“She sure is sweet,” Ron stated, his demeanor completely opposite of what it was when he’d arrived. He even had a smile stretching his thin lips, whereas when he first arrived he wore a frown that had been a permanent look for him—until meeting Patience.

“Like an angel,” Caleb sighed.

“Can we just get back to the agenda?” Adam had run out of patience. He stared at the double doors, fuming at the way Patience had not only openly flirted with the entire council, but then the way she’d served him nothing short of poison and expected him to make a scene…

Oh, she was surely going to pay.

Patience’s Journal, Monday, April 3, 1865

Port Steele, Washington Territory (continued)

…As much as I would like to say I’ve taught my dear husband a lesson for his treatment of me earlier, I fear I have waged war on Adam Steele. Raven, of course, will take Adam’s side, as brothers do, but I’ve been outnumbered before, and it will not discourage me. Adam may have won the first battle this morning, but I do believe the second battle belongs to me. Now that the town council has departed, the third battle will surely begin.

“Patti, damn it, open this door before I break the locks!” Adam pounded on the door to her room and rattled at the knob. He then beat on it again. Taking turns, he slammed his fist into the door, then tried the handle, then beat on the door once again. “Patience!”

“I have a headache,” she hollered over the incessant pounding. “And you’re only making it worse.”

“I’ll make it worse.” He slammed his fist against the door, and she heard the distinctive snap as his rage left a crack in the wood. “Open this door!”

She jumped off the bed and rushed to the door to yell back. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest. She thought salting his coffee would have made her feel better, but seeing the way he acted now, she wasn’t sure. “Not until you apologize for the way you treated me.”

“Apologize to you? Ha! You embarrassed me in front of the most important men in this entire town.”

“And you made me feel like…like…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it again, having already pointed it out this morning. Tears of humiliation blurred her vision, and she angrily wiped at them as they streamed down her face. She wished she were stronger. She wished she could stand up to him without her emotions showing.

Silence answered her from the other side of the door, yet she still felt him there. After several seconds, he spoke in a softer tone. “Open the door. We need to talk about this.”

“I don’t want to talk.” She folded her arms under her breasts and pouted.

Slam
. “Woman, you open this door. Now!”

“Order me again, Adam. See how far that gets you.”

“Of all the…”

She heard another man’s voice and leaned against the door to listen but couldn’t make out any of the words. When a click resounded from the lock, she stumbled back and then dropped her jaw when the door swung open.

And there stood Adam Steele, Raven behind him, both looking mad enough to chew glass. Adam strode in and stopped, his chest heaving as he fought to maintain his control. Those eyes pierced into her soul, and as he watched her, unmoving, he remained silent.

Only when Raven closed and locked the door behind them did Adam finally move, stalking toward her in slow, deliberate steps. He spoke, his voice low and even and undeniably dangerous. “You dare defy me in the face of this town.”

“Adam, calm down.” Raven tried to grab his arm, but Adam jerked away and pushed him back.

That did it. She marched over to him and stood between him and Raven. “Take your fury out on me, but do not bully your brother. He’s done nothing wrong.”

Adam stepped back, dumbfounded. “Are you defending him?”

She would not back down. Raven did not deserve to endure the brunt of Adam’s wrath. Thrusting out her chin, she gave him a curt nod.

“I most certainly am.”

“While I appreciate the gesture, I don’t need your protection from him.” Raven stepped back over to Adam, and right before her eyes, he pushed him back.

And, like that, Patience disappeared from the attention of her men. She scurried back as the two men turned to face each other.

Adam stole a sideways glance at Raven. “Right here?”

“Right now,” Raven quipped.

“You always were a bully, brother.”

Stunned, Patience stood there and watched as the two challenged each other, but it gave her time to examine them closer. The high cheekbones. The same brilliant eyes. Her mind sizzled as she also remembered their other wonderful family similarities. The way they tasted. The size of their…
Never mind.

“And you always cried when you didn’t get your way,” Raven countered.

Adam smiled at his brother’s words. Oh, Lord, that sexy smile. It made his eyes glimmer with dark mischief. His lower lip curled and tempted her to bite at it, to run her tongue along its ridge and taste it.

And then Raven smiled that same potent smile, and she gave up on her sanity. These two men were driving her mad, and she loved every minute of it.

“That is enough,” she snapped at them. They both turned and blinked at her. “Raven, you have no right to be angry with me, so I’ll thank you to take a seat on the bed and remain silent while I deal with him.”

“Surely you…can’t…” He trailed off when she spiked her brow, daring him to go on. Without another word, he hurried over and took a seat on the bed.

“As for you, Adam Steele…”

“Don’t think for one moment that I’ll—”

She grabbed him by the collar and boldly captured his lips with hers, silencing whatever threat he had summoned up. Taking her boldness a step further, she then licked his lips open and really kissed him. The blazing need fighting to break free threatened to combust inside of her. She had to have more.

But he then pushed her back, his expression hard, the stark hunger in his eyes burning into her. “What was that?”

She felt wanton. The need to feel him around her, possessing her, touching her as the lover she longed for, consumed her. “I’m taking control. You promised.”

That hardness on his face thawed as his desire clearly won out, but that edge of dominance still held him back. He didn’t want to release control to her.

“That I did,” he stated, his voice thick and raspy with the arousal she drew from him. “Until you ask for me to take it back.”

“I suggest you give it back to him now.” Raven had snuck up behind her and pressed against her. The hard throb of his cock pushed against her lower back and had her pussy quivering in response.

“And why is that?”

“Adam’s control is the only thing that restrains me. Without that discipline, I may let myself go. Will you be able to control two men, Patti?”

Oh, Lord, she didn’t know if she wanted to or not. She wanted them to touch her, love her, and release this sweet torment throbbing between her legs.

She turned to face Raven and sucked in a breath when his tongue swiped over her lips, forcing them open. As their lips melted together, she was vaguely aware of Adam pulling her skirts from her body.

Raven clearly had no plans to give her any sense of control. His kiss proved just how futile it was to ever think she had it. She tried to pull back, but he grasped the back of her neck and held her in place, destroying her with his mouth.

Adam reached around and cupped the swell of her breasts, pinched her nipples through the fabric, drawing a gasp from her. With her mouth open, Raven plunged his tongue inside and explored the recesses.

“Turn to me,” Adam demanded.

She did, not bothering to argue. She could never steal the control from them. They had her, in every sense of the word. To her chagrin, he’d somehow managed to remove his clothes while doing the same to her. His erection, so heavy and almost purple, pressed up against her stomach.

He hooked an arm under her knee and lifted it up, holding her steady as Raven buried his mouth between her legs, licking at the tender nerves of her clitoris, drinking up the syrup he’d drawn from her with that wicked kiss.

Arching her back to expose herself to his tongue, Patience whimpered when he pushed a slick finger through her back entrance. At the same time, he stabbed her pussy with his tongue, and she nearly lost her footing.

Adam worked the buttons of her top and pushed it off her shoulders. He then threw the camisole up over her head and dove to her breasts, licking and teasing a hard nipple. When he pulled it between his teeth and nipped, she bit her lower lip to stop from crying out. They did, after all, have a house full of staff.