Love Under Two Benedicts (8 page)

“Hello yourself.” Her distracted tone made him smile. She thought what they shared was only physical? Not hardly.

“My turn.”

Matthew’s voice drew her attention, and Steven watched as his brother gathered her in and laid his lips on hers.

A sense of rightness settled on him, and it was a sense he’d at one time despaired of ever feeling. Years ago, when Matt had left Lusty, Steven had felt certain he’d be back after only a few months. Then those months had turned into years, and
then
Matthew had married Linda.

At the time, he’d truly wanted his brother to be happy, even though he himself felt devastated. All his life he’d had dreams of the future, and those dreams had always included him and Matthew married to the same woman.

Finally, his world had come right. It thrilled him that Kelsey responded as hotly to Matt as she did to him.

Matthew took a step back from Kelsey, then flashed her the same smile that had always gotten him out of trouble. “I guess we should feed you first, before we gobble you down.”

“Hey, I might be the one who does the gobbling,” she said.

Steven laughed. “Yeah, you may very well be. Same goes, though. We should all eat.”

He noted the way she made sure neither of them held her hand as they entered the house. A quick look over at his brother and it was all he could do not to laugh out loud. Matthew had noticed her quasi-withdrawal and was going to respond to it in the same way he was going to—by pretending not to notice it at all.

Last night, they’d come inside and gone straight up the stairs to the master bedroom. Remembering the night before, he’d felt certain Kelsey would have pressed him when he’d told her the bedroom wasn’t his yet. It was the master bedroom, intended to be shared by him, his brother, and their wife.

What would Kelsey think if she found out they’d had it redecorated two months ago, using colors they knew she liked
?

That was a question to be saved for a much later time.

“We kind of rushed you in and up last night, sweetheart. So how about the nickel tour now?”

He could see it on her lips. Part of her wanted to decline. After all, she wasn’t here to inspect the home or comment on the furnishings. She was here for sex, pure and simple.

He knew another part of her, the part he knew had already more than half fallen for them, wanted to see where he lived and examine their tastes in decorating.

He’d not known many women who could turn down the offer of a house tour. He figured it was something in them, some genetic coding under the general heading of the nesting instinct that came to the fore.

Of course, the nesting instinct in her won. “All right, yes. I’d like to see your house.”

This was the home he’d grown up in, and now it was
his
home. Other members of the family occupied different houses, some held in the family for generations. His folks had moved back to the Big House, and when she was in Lusty and not traveling all over hell’s half acre, Grandma Kate lived with them. Susan had a room there, but she also kept an apartment in the fourplex she owned over on Elm Street.

Joshua and Alex, his other brothers, each had a house in town. They’d been talking lately of building a new place together on the outskirts. They wanted a house they could share with the woman of their dreams.

They never doubted they’d eventually meet her, and that certainty was a family tradition, too.

Steven took pride in his home. Much of the furniture was as it had been through his youth. His grandparents had bought big, expensive leather and wood pieces made to last. Because they intended to make this their family home together, he’d consulted his brother on every renovation. Their tastes had meshed, which had been a blessing. They’d hired a decorator for some parts, but he and Matthew had refurbished the master bedroom themselves. They’d also done the den. They didn’t watch a lot of television, but when they did, they both wanted to enjoy the experience. The LCD screen they’d bought was the biggest Steven had ever seen. Judging from Kelsey’s reaction, it was for her, too.

“Holy cow, everything in this house is big!” Kelsey immediately blushed when she said that.

Steven met her gaze for a long moment and then said, “The beds in the guest rooms are a standard queen size.” There, let her see what she did with that.

“I see.”

Like hell
. If she had asked why the bed in the master bedroom was larger, then, he could have explained it was meant to be shared by three.
 
Steven smiled and then continued the tour on into the kitchen.

“Oh, my God, this is gorgeous!”

They’d had the granite countertop imported from Canada and chosen large rectangular ceramic tiles for the floor. Both surfaces shimmered in shades of autumn brown and, the decorator had said, contrasted well with the pure white, hand-carved wooden cabinets they’d had installed.

He’d chosen to have a center work island in the midst of the room as he liked the look of it. And, while he didn’t do a lot of cooking in this room, those who did told him he’d chosen the spacing and set-up well.

He smiled as Kelsey inspected all the drawers, looked in the oven, and cooed over the dishes in the cabinet.

“I guess it would be sexist of me to say this kitchen is wasted on a bachelor who rarely cooks.” She grinned as she said that. Matthew laughed, and Steven only shrugged.

“I had to figure Susan would have told you neither of us cook much. And it’s okay, you can be sexist. I
don’t
cook here often, but aunts and cousins and my mom do from time to time. They like it.”

 
“What’s not to like?” Kelsey finished her inspection, then perched herself up on one of the leather stools that lined the island on one side.

“Okay, I’m ready to watch others cook my dinner.”

“Hope you like stir-fry,” Matthew said.

“I do. And I like roast chicken, too. ”

Steven wondered if she was laughing at them, just a little. And he decided it was fine if the answer to that was yes. If she could laugh at them, she had to feel at ease with them. Whether she realized it or not, Ms. Kelsey Madison had taken a step away from “sex only” and toward a full-fledged relationship.

* * * *

Kelsey could hardly believe it, but touring Steven’s home and sitting in the kitchen bantering while the two men prepared dinner felt more intimate than sex had the night before. She began to suspect that she may have bitten off more than she could chew with these two Benedicts.

She sipped the wine Steven had poured, a crisp Chablis that was one of her favorites, and took a moment to search her emotions.

While the moment felt intimate, it didn’t feel threatening. She was still captain of her ship, in charge of her destiny, and that destiny had been carved in stone.

She might hook up with the male of the species from time to time in order to play, but she’d live the rest of her life alone.

“I think you qualify for some sort of award,” Matthew said.

Kelsey tilted her head slightly. “For what?”

“Making no comment so far on our technique.”

She set her glass down and used two fingers to gently turn it as she considered all the possible responses she could give him.

“Well, in fairness, I
was
going to wait until I got dressed again later before giving either of you a score. Last night might have been a fluke.”

“Smart ass,” Steven said.

She watched as he began to sear the beef strips in the wok. Matthew finished chopping the vegetables, then checked the rice in the steamer. The kitchen filled with the smell of food, and as always, even when it wasn’t her own food, Kelsey took a moment to close her eyes, inhale deeply, and appreciate the aromas.

She opened her eyes to encounter the two men treating her to identical heated gazes.

“There should be a rule about distracting the cooks,” Matthew said.

“I agree.” Steven put his attention back on the wok.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was simply…enjoying the scents.”

It had been a long, long time since Kelsey had allowed herself the freedom to flirt. When Matthew speared her with another stare, she said nothing, simply batted her eyelashes.

“Us, too, come to that. You smell sultry, savory, and sexy.”

“Ooh, alliteration. Be still my heart.”

“You know,” Steven said conversationally, “smart asses run the risk of being spanked around here.”

“You might call that another family tradition, one that’s not spoken of very often,” Matthew added.

The air fairly crackled with sexual tension. Kelsey felt it along her arms and legs, then spiraling deep into her, settling low in her belly. Her nipples tightened and her pussy gushed. She’d never been spanked in her entire life. She didn’t know what to think about the fact that the mere mention of the possibility of a spanking had her dripping with horniness.

They seemed to understand how their words had affected her, too, because they’d traded a look she couldn’t completely read.

She cleared her throat. “Is that right? So, would that be like a round-robin sort of activity?”

“Certainly not. Any Texan will tell you only women can be smart asses and earn spankings. The similar quality in a man is merely referred to as wit.”

“There sure are a lot of rules in Texas,” Kelsey said. She’d aimed for a light, breezy tone, but it emerged more of a breathless one.

“That’s because Texan men pride themselves on their attention to detail,” Steven said without looking up from the stove.

“We do, indeed,” Matthew agreed. “And one such little detail demands that we ask you which you prefer, honey or chocolate?”

“Honey or chocolate what?”

“Sauce. Your being a chef opens up a world of gourmand possibilities for us. So, which would you prefer to have us lick off every inch of your body? Honey or chocolate?”

“What, no strawberry?”
Oh my God, I don’t believe I just said that
.
 
Kelsey’s heart pounded in her chest in response to the expression on the brothers’ faces.

“We thought we’d save the strawberries for our own unique version of bobbing for apples,” Steven said.

“Mmm, I can nearly taste how sweet those berries are going to be as I tongue them out of your pussy,” Matthew said.

Kelsey forgot how to breathe. The picture these men painted acted like tinder on her already smoldering libido. She picked up her glass of wine, downing the contents in one toss, not even taking a moment to enjoy the tang of the grape on her tongue. Her mind threw her incendiary images of her and these two rogues enacting every single scenario they’d mentioned.

Her appetite for food diminished in direct proportion to the increase in her hunger for them.

They exchanged a look, these brothers who seemed bent on driving her out of her mind. Then Matthew unplugged the rice steamer and Steven turned off the stove.

“Sandwiches, later,” Matthew said. He reached out to her, his fingers working quickly to unfasten the buttons of her blouse. Steven moved behind her, pressing himself against her from behind. She could just feel the imprint of his cock against the small of her back, and she wondered at the speed with which they had all gone from the mundane to the sensual.

Kelsey had no more time to think. The moment the last button of her blouse came open, Steven whipped it off her while Matthew reached around behind her and opened her bra. Then he lifted her, and she felt Steven unbutton and unzip her skirt. It and her panties joined the rest of her clothing in a heap on the floor.

Her bare bottom hit the cold granite of the kitchen island. Matthew spread her legs as Steven eased her down so she lay stretched out before them, an offering at waist height.

Steven’s mouth covered hers, his tongue hot and determined to taste all of her at once. One hand held her two wrists together, arms above her head. The other cupped her breast, tweaking and pulling at her nipple.

She became so lost in Steven’s kiss, the sound of cupboards being opened and closed nearly didn’t register. Then she felt the heat of Matthew’s body standing between her legs once more.

His thumb stroked the bare skin above her clit just a split second before she felt something warm, wet, and thick land there.

Steven broke their kiss and shifted his gaze to watch his brother.

“I thought we’d start by making this a real honey pot,” Matthew said.

Kelsey arched, whimpering with need as Matthew began to lick the sweet nectar from her flesh.

Chapter 8

Wesley Connors felt certain not even his bride would recognize him.

If Cora Lynn were sitting in this second-rate eatery in this Podunk little town, she wouldn’t know it was her own husband who’d just walked in the door.

He’d been careful with his disguise, especially careful because, well, after this little problem had been resolved, his face would be splashed all over television screens and newspapers throughout the great state of Texas. He’d be easily recognizable then, so he needed to be extra careful now.