Maya's Triple Dare

MAYA’S TRIPLE DARE

Divine Creek Ranch 6

Heather Rainier

MENAGE EVERLASTING

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Maya’s Triple dare

Divine Creek Ranch 6

Heather Rainier

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

Maya sighed heavily as she dropped her car keys and the stack of envelopes on the marble kitchen countertop and walked into the living room. Using the remote, she turned on the stereo, which was set to play at a low volume on a country and western station.

She glanced at the pile of mail, knowing what was in it. Besides the usual correspondence, there was also a letter from her attorney.

That typically meant only one thing, another letter from her late husband. She looked around the spacious living room, lit by the late afternoon sun, and felt small in the big house.

Maya slipped out of her high heels and sat on the couch, tucking her feet beneath her. She was relieved that the meeting with her financial planner was done. The one thing she didn’t have to worry about was how she was managing financially. Morgan had left her with a comfortable investment income. She’d been putting off some decisions, unsure of what direction her life should take now.

Up to that point she’d followed Morgan’s suggestion to pursue her dreams, which included graduating from The University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. She’d also taken and passed the Examination for Registered Nurses.

10

She had begun the process in a fog after his death, by rote and faith, pursuing the completion of her educational goals as a means to survive the early months of widowhood. She was done with that chapter of her life, and it was time to set off into uncharted waters on her own. She felt like her boat was stalled in the water.

Her phone chirped. Glancing at the screen, she saw the text from Frank Reeves and closed her eyes. What had she been thinking when she’d agreed to that date with her deceased husband’s business partner?

When he’d suggested it would be good for her to begin socializing again, she had agreed. She hadn’t realized that he would ask her out
every
weekend. Out of sheer boredom she’d gone out with him a few times.

Lately, Frank had been pressing her for affection she didn’t feel toward him. That situation was something else she had to make a decision about, especially after his behavior the night before.

She looked at the screen again.

“Will you call me? We need to talk.”

“No,
you
want to talk. You want me to listen and be your Barbie doll and nod my head,” she said to her phone as though she were talking to him. “Jerk.”

She glanced at the thick stack of mail and looked away. She could see the corner of the thick, cream-colored envelope from her attorney’s office. She wanted to reach for it, but she also dreaded it.

Instead, she applied her finger to the touch screen on her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She smiled and heaved a shaky sigh when his handsome face popped up on the screen and she touched the

“call” icon. Talking to Kendall always helped, and she felt comforted at the thought of hearing his voice.

She could trust this man. She pictured him in her mind and smiled at the thought of broad, muscular shoulders, powerful arms, and a tight butt that was droolworthy. He had eyes that were always lit with

11

a mischievous twinkle and a flirtatious smile that probably had the girls in Divine hot on his heels.

“Hello, babydoll.”

The same delightful shiver always zipped up her spine at the sweet sound of his affectionate, rugged voice. Sometimes she heard his voice or saw his face in her dreams, and she wondered what Kendall would think if he knew the role he’d taken on in her dreams of late.

“Kendall. How are you?”

“I’m good. We’re just sitting at home, cooling off and having a beer.”

Boone and Richard must be there with him, as well. She smiled at her memories of them. Boone, with his body art, tall, muscular physique, and dark brown eyes. And Richard, the gentle, quiet giant with pale eyes that made her heart flutter. The three brothers were all drop-dead gorgeous in very different ways. She might’ve been a married woman in the years they’d all been friends, but that didn’t mean she’d been blind.

Lately, Boone and Richard had even shown up in a few dreams, as well as fantasies. She supposed that might be part of the reason why a man like Frank Reeves, with his slightly superior, aging, preppy-jock mentality had held no appeal for her. She could care less about whether he drove a Jag or owned a boat.

It would’ve impressed her more if he’d gotten a decent haircut and stopped trying to hide his bald spot. There was something attractive about a man who didn’t try to hide things that were a normal part of aging. But then again, Frank also dressed in the same preppy fashions as he probably had when he was in high school, so growing up was obviously an issue.

“How are Boone and Richard doing?”

“They just got home, too. We’re fixing to eat. What are you up to?”

“I just got home. I wanted to…”
…tell you I need you.

12

Kendall waited for a few seconds and then spoke up, his voice laced with concern. “You okay, babydoll?”

Just tell him. Say the words. I need you.

She couldn’t do it. Kendall and his brothers were struggling, trying to get their ranch up and running. They were entrenched in life in Divine, and she was in San Marcos. If she told him that, she knew he’d drop everything and be there inside of three hours. That wasn’t fair to him or his brothers, who were still working full-time at that other ranch.
Suck it up, sister. You have decisions to make.

She wouldn’t bother him with her job decisions because she knew it was simply a choice of where to start looking. She’d just tell Kendall about what was going on with Frank. He’d help her see the big picture, and she’d move on. Talking to him could provide a jumpstart of sorts. She’d always been able to rely on him.

* * * *

Kendall Warner sat down with his ice-cold beer and propped his boots up on the coffee table. It had been a long, hot day, but all that was forgotten as he held the cell phone to his ear. He welcomed the sound of Maya Daire’s sexy, whispery voice even though it inspired a hardening erection he couldn’t expect her to do anything about. He didn’t welcome the words he knew were coming.

Don’t say it, babydoll.

“You’re my ‘go-to’ guy, Kendall. I know I can trust you to tell me what I should do.”

If I did, you’d be living here with us. You’d be lying in our bed
right now while I made love to you and my brothers watched, waiting
their turn.

He pictured her like that and suppressed a groan. He could see her clearly, her long, golden-blonde hair spread across his pillows, her beautiful, curvaceous body naked and resplendent on the sheets. Her

13

blue eyes glittered with desire as she reached for him. His cock punched at his fly, demanding action.

Kendall glanced at his older brother, Boone, who watched him with a knowing look on his face. It was Kendall’s younger brother Richard’s turn to cook supper, and he’d been banging around in the kitchen until Kendall’s phone rang. The kitchen was now quiet, since he’d told them it was Maya calling. In the last couple of months, both his brothers had developed a greater interest in these calls.

“Is everything all right, Maya?” Kendall prepared to have his heart ripped out.

She was calling him for advice about dating again. Or she was calling to tell him she was dating someone new. He was glad she had returned to the land of the living or at least partly living. It had been a year since her husband Morgan’s death, and as a young widow, Maya was trying hard to get back in the swing of things.

“Frank Reeves has been asking for more than just a date. I went out with him last night, and when he brought me home he wanted to stay over.”

The thought of her loving someone new made his chest burn.

“How do you feel about that?” Kendall asked through gritted teeth, trying to sound normal as the Neanderthal inside him beat his chest ineffectually.

Frank Reeves was an aging jock with a superiority complex who had been Morgan’s business partner. Kendall had never liked him, and it didn’t sit well with him that Maya had gone out with the asshole.

Boone propped his boots up on the coffee table and stretched loudly. In answer to Kendall’s question to her, he muttered, “Feel like kicking your pussy ass, Kendall, that’s how I feel.”

Kendall saluted Boone with his middle finger.

It had been Kendall’s intent to give Maya time to mourn before sharing how he’d always felt about her. When had he gotten himself into this role as her love-life advisor?

14

About eight years ago, when I became a fucking pushover where
my best friend’s wife was concerned.

He thought back to the times she’d called on him as her “go-to”

guy. He’d given the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty advice on every subject relating to the human male, with Morgan reaping all the benefits.

He’d had a hand in selecting lingerie colors and styles. She’d e-mailed him with a picture of herself shot from the rear. Along with the picture was the question, “Do these jeans make my ass look enormous?” He had no idea why she thought her sweet little derriere was enormous. It was perfection. He’d e-mailed her back an appropriate reply.

His all-time favorite as the “go-to” guy was her asking him if guys
really
cared whether a girl swallowed cum after a blow job or not.

Maya had even talked to him about feeling ready to start a family.

He’d imagined her beautiful body ripe with his child. He should’ve felt guilty for that, or jealous of Morgan, but that hadn’t been the case at all. He would’ve been happy for both of them if she’d gotten pregnant. Jealousy had never entered the picture, and Morgan had never acted threatened by Maya’s continued closeness to Kendall since becoming friends in college.

Then Morgan had been killed in a freak auto accident. Kendall’s role as “go-to” guy had taken on a different quality as she’d mourned.

Over the last couple of months their conversations had concerned her getting involved socially again. It was right about that time that Boone and Richard had begun taking a more focused interest in her.

“I don’t want him like that. I think Frank’s…
okay
, and he was supportive after Morgan’s accident, but I have the impression he’s becoming impatient. He didn’t leave happy last night.” Her silken voice held a note of hesitancy. “If he pulls that again I think I’m done with him. I was actually a little scared when he left so angrily.”

Her words and her tone got Kendall’s attention. “You’re scared of him? If that’s the case, you need to stop seeing him now. Don’t give

15

him the opportunity to hurt you. I’ve never liked the smarmy bastard, but I was glad you were feeling up to dating again. If the guy scares you, cut him loose.”

He’d just lied to her. If Kendall had been in the area, Frank Reeves never would’ve had a chance at dating her. Kendall noticed Boone’s demeanor had changed, and the kitchen had grown quiet again.

“I didn’t mean to get you all riled up.”

“If Reeves is scaring you, I want to do more than get riled up.” He wanted to get in the truck and go get her.

“Maybe I’m making too big of a deal out of it. He did stop when I asked him to—”

“Stop what? What did he do?” Kendall saw red and sensed it when Richard came to stand behind the couch to listen and Boone sat up at attention.

“Kendall, calm down. It was no big deal. He was trying to get my top undone. Feeling me up. You
know
.”

“Anyone who dates you should treat you like a lady, Maya. Do you need me to come teach the bastard a lesson?”
Please say yes.

She was silent for a moment, and then said, “That’s him on call-waiting right now. I’ll let it go to voice mail. No, I don’t need you to come teach him a lesson, I need—” He thought he heard a hitch in her breathing.

Say me. Please say you need
me
.

“Maya?” He could picture her sitting in her living room all alone, looking like she needed his arms wrapped around her.

“Never mind. Listen, don’t mind me. I’m not going to see Frank anymore. I’ll call him back and tell him we’re through. It’s just hard, Kendall. It was a year ago yesterday. I–I have…regrets, and it’s making me oversensitive. I’ll be fine.” She sounded anything but fine.

Forlorn was more like it.

“Maya, I can be there in three hours.”

“No. I’m a big girl.”

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They spoke of other, safer topics for a few minutes, and then he ended the call, dissatisfied and hungry. But not hungry for supper.

The hunger he’d always felt for her burned in his belly. If she knew how her voice on the phone affected him, how her velvety tone caressed his neural pathways, she’d…what? Freak out? Laugh?

Boone sighed heavily and said what was on his mind. “Bro, how long are you going to torture yourself? If she’s dating again, you need to act on whatever it was she told you before some other unworthy asshole comes along and steals her away permanently. You got mail.”

Boone nudged it to him with the heel of his boot on the coffee table.

Richard shifted quietly behind Kendall and said, “Someone’s giving our girl a hard time?”

“Yeah. Frank Reeves.” God, how Kendall wished she
was
their girl. That had been the topic of recent conversation as well.

“Is he the peckerwood who drives the Jag?” Boone asked, scrubbing a hand over the short beard on his jaw.

“That’s the one. He tried to take advantage of her last night. She said he’s gotten pushy, wanting more attention than she’s willing to give.” He lifted a letter written on heavy stationery from the stack to open first. The return address was a law office in Austin. “Shit. What now?”

He sliced open the envelope with his pocketknife as Boone sat forward and Richard hovered nearby with his arms crossed over his massive chest.

Richard asked, “Is it about the claim on the house?”

“No, I heard from them this afternoon,” Kendall said as the contents of the heavy envelope fell into his lap. They had been in limbo, waiting to hear from their insurance company regarding the pile of broken lumber that currently sat where the old JWB Ranch house had once stood.

“What did they say?” Boone asked. “The storm was last month, and they sure are taking their sweet-ass time.”

17

“Our policy has a wind exclusion because of the history of storms in our area. It won’t cover the loss at all.”

“Thank God we hadn’t sunk a lot of money and time into renovating it yet,” Richard said.

They’d lived on the Rockin’ C Ranch with the other ranch hands after hiring on with Chance and Clayton Carlisle and had only made the ranch house livable enough to move in to a few months before the storms had hit. Their focus had been the land and saving practically every penny they earned for good breeding stock. The house had been in sad repair, and they’d originally planned to fix it up a little at a time while living in it. Between their jobs and caring for the land and livestock, the last two years had been long and hard.

“And for the fact that we weren’t home when it happened.”

Home for the last month had been the old foreman’s house on the Divine Creek Ranch. Angel, Joaquin, and Teresa Martinez and their two children had vacated it the year before when their new house was finished. The present ranch foreman, Ash Peterson, his wife Juliana, and their baby boy were living in her home while their house on FM

709 was under construction.

Grace Warner had come to the guys when she’d heard about the rickety, old ranch house being destroyed in last month’s straight line windstorm and had insisted they live in the unoccupied foreman’s house while they rebuilt.

Boone added, “At least the outbuildings and livestock were mostly unharmed.”

Boone and Richard still worked full-time at the Rockin’ C Ranch outside of Divine while Kendall worked full-time on their spread, the JWB or Jack Warner’s Boys Ranch. The JWB butted up to the Divine Creek Ranch along the creek for which it was named.

Kendall had begun working full-time on their place the year before. Their plan had been to each come back full-time to the JWB

as it began to turn a profit as a cattle ranch. It was slow going, but
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they were patient. The JWB was a beautiful piece of land and well worth the effort.

Kendall was content in almost every area of his life, save one. The phone call from Maya had only served to bring his loneliness to mind.

He could handle having to rebuild their home. He couldn’t handle the thought of rebuilding a house, only to knock around in it alone.

A cover letter and another sealed envelope with familiar handwriting on the outside fell into his lap. He opened the cover letter and quickly scanned the contents. Trepidation grew in his heart as he slit the second envelope open.

“It’s a letter from Morgan,” he murmured as the old ache surfaced in his heart for his dead friend. Morgan had been killed in a hit-and-run automobile accident a year and one day ago. Boone and Richard withdrew to the kitchen and left him to read in private.

Kendall,

It must feel weird to hold this letter in your hands right now. That
means I’ve been dead for a year. It feels weird to write it, too. Sorry
for your loss, dude.

You’re my best friend and Maya’s as well. That’s why I’m
reaching out to you. By now, Maya should be moving on with her life,
and I needed to make some things right for her sake. Being the nice
guy that you are, you have no idea what I’m talking about.

I know you loved her. I know the day I married her had to be the
most painful day of your life. But you stood by me the whole time
without a word of complaint. It would’ve killed me if I’d been in your
shoes, but you’ve stuck by us and been the kind of friend we’re both
grateful for.

If you’re able, will you go to her? Will you tell her you love her
and do whatever you must to get her to admit she loves you as well? I
know she loves you. I knew it when I married her even though I was
sure she loved me, too. I think she wanted us both and couldn’t ask

19

for what she truly wanted. Do whatever you have to do to convince
her and give her what she needs.

You’re going to think I’m a freak for saying this, but I think you’re
the missing part of our marriage. I wish we lived in a culture where
poly relationships were accepted. If I had chosen a different, less
public profession and lived in a smaller town it might have been an
option for us. I’ll never know.

Worst-case scenario, Frank Reeves will try to get involved with
Maya. Please don’t allow that to happen, Kendall. I think he harbors
an attraction for her, and something has been off about him lately.