Surrounded by Pleasure (3 page)

Mikaela parked, then Krista hopped out and started grabbing
her bags. She would be staying a month, so she’d packed a lot. She seriously
thought she had more with her now than what was left at her place.

“May I take your bags, ma’am?” a voice sounded behind
her, and she whirled.

“Umm.”

“This is Jeffery,” Mikaela said, coming to her rescue.
“He’s, well, he’s Thomas’s everything. If you need anything, he’ll get it for
you. And if he can’t, he’ll find some way to make it happen anyway.” She leaned
over to hug Jeffery. He seemed a little startled by her action but returned the
hug briefly before looking back at Krista.

“Ma’am?”

“Oh, yes, yes, of course. I mean, I can get some of them,
but I wouldn’t mind the help.”

“That won’t be necessary, ma’am. I’ll have your bags in
your room waiting for you by the time the lady of the house finishes with your
tour.”

“L-Lady of the house?” Hadn’t Mikaela told her Mr. Woods
was a widow?

“He means me.” Mikaela shrugged like it was a silly
notion, but she had a twinkle in her eyes that betrayed her nonchalance.
“C’mon. Let me show you around before the guys finish up their work. I’m afraid
once they lay their eyes on you they’ll be monopolizing all your time. I think
they’re going to make it really difficult for me to get any real work out of
you,” she said, laughing as she motioned for Krista to follow her.

Oh, yeah, work.
She couldn’t forget the real
reason she was here. Lots of hot monkey sex it was not.

* * * *

“Holy shit, do you smell that?” Rob jumped off the limb
he’d been perched on while the guys were taking a breather. “That’s her. She’s
here.” He inhaled again, groaning on his exhale.

Toby sniffed and immediately suppressed his own sound of
pleasure. Rob was right. That scent was the sweetest thing he’d ever smelled in
his life. And he’d smelled plenty of women in his past. Granted, they, too,
were women already taken, but the smell of a ripe woman was still intoxicating.

This Krista chick had them all beat. She was ambrosia.
And he was fucked. Truly fucked. He still didn’t want to risk getting his ass
handed to him by a pissed-off cougar lioness after being turned against her
will, so he’d have to resist the temptation. And he would.

Jack stood suddenly. “I’m heading in to shower. See you
in the dining room for drinks.” Toby wanted to growl at . . . what? Jack had
every right to prepare himself for meeting that woman. Toby should be happy
Jack was so focused on getting in her panties. If his brother kept her
distracted, maybe Toby would find it easy to resist her.

“Me, too.” Rob hopped up and bolted without another word.
Fuck.
This sucked ass! No, no, this
was a good thing. He sighed, looking down at his scuffed work boots.

“I’m heading in, too. I haven’t seen Mikaela in two
weeks.” Josh leaned over and patted Toby’s shoulder, then gave it a squeeze
before turning and walking away.

Everyone had bailed, but technically the work was done
for the day. Toby could do a few minuscule things, knowing he’d be stalling, or
he could go shower, make nice with his pecker, and get ready for dinner.

He took a deep breath as he stood and almost fell to his
knees when his legs started to buckle. God, that woman’s scent would be the
death of him.

Maybe he should jack off twice tonight. He walked off,
but the closer he got to the house, the stronger her scent called to him.

Fuck.
No maybe about it. His dick was
hard as steel. Tonight he would be switching up the monotony with a twofer.

* * * *

Krista paced in her spacious bedroom, regretting the
outfit she’d put on. She still had time to change out of the blue silk dress
that complemented her eyes. The wrap style helped camouflage her rounded belly,
but it made her boobs and butt look huge. The lacy bra and panties she’d run
out and bought last week matched the color of the dress. She’d also purchased
some additional matching sets to replace the holey granny panties and
stretched-out flesh-tone bras she’d worn for years. She wanted to make a good
impression and had all these great ideas of coming out of her shell with a
bang.

Now she rather liked the idea of her comfy, homey shell. This
dress was too snug and just too revealing. She didn’t feel sexy. She felt like
an idiot, like a virgin playing dress-up. She wiped her sweaty palms along her
arms as she looked at her opened closet door. She had time to change if she was
quick about it. Hell, she’d spent the afternoon unpacking and organizing
everything since she knew she was going to be here for a while. So she knew
exactly where her favorite jeans were.

As she rushed over to the closet to grab them, she almost
tripped over the pumps she had on.
Flats
.
She’d change into flats, too. But a knock on her door stopped her.

The sound of Mikaela’s voice had her groaning. “Don’t you
even think about changing out of that dress I helped you pick out.”

“Go away.” She walked to the closet and grabbed her
jeans.

The doorknob jiggled, and then the door swung open.

“Not gonna happen, girl. And those jeans you’re holding onto
like a security blanket are staying off those sexy-ass legs of yours for the
night.”

Krista’s heart raced. “M-Mikaela, I don’t think I—”

“Damn, girl. I’ve seen you in court. You tear into
top-notch attorneys without even batting an eye. This is just dinner with a
group of down-to-earth men. They won’t bite.” Mikaela darted her eyes
suspiciously, almost nervously, but she looked back so quickly that Krista
didn’t have time to fully analyze her behavior. “Unless you want them to.” She
shrugged with a smirk, then held out her hand. “C’mon. Since you’re acting like
this experience is a trip to the doctor’s office, we’ll treat the initial
introductions like we’re ripping off a bandage. That part will be over before
you know it.”

Mikaela’s tone brooked no argument, so, on a sigh, Krista
relented, dropped the jeans on the bed, and walked toward her bossy colleague.

“Good girl.” Mikaela shut the door and led the way to the
dining hall.

I can do this
, Krista chanted mentally.
Mikaela’s brothers-in-law were just men. It wasn’t as if she’d never kissed a
man before. She’d just never done much of anything else.
And you’re never going to at this rate. Suck it up!
Okay, if she
didn’t find them attractive, then no harm in looking. If they were easy on the
eyes, then no harm giving one of them a test run in between the sheets. Besides,
she’d never see any of them again—not unless they were to come up to
St. Louis
for legal work,
and that wasn’t likely. As they neared a rustic-looking door with elegant iron
work, Krista’s stomach flipped. The voices coming from the other side of that
door sounded deep, masculine. Sexy. Holy moly, she wasn’t sure if she could do
this. She wasn’t some vixen out to snag a lay. She was a good girl.

She was a horny girl.

A virgin.

“You look constipated, hon’. Take a deep breath before I
open this door. When we walk in, I’ll get us some wine. Loosen you right up.”

Krista nodded absently, mentally directing her lungs to
inhale and exhale. When she blew out her breath, Mikaela opened the door, and
she followed behind.

Good heavens! She stood wide-eyed, staring at all the
hunks in the room. They all seemed to be about the same height, with varying
shades of brown hair and tanned skin. The one wearing a green pull-over sweater
walked over to Mikaela, eyes locked onto her like he was about to devour her.
Had to be the hubby.

“Hi, kitten,” he murmured, taking his wife into his arms
and kissing her temple affectionately. Even though the action was simple,
Krista felt the chemistry zinging around them and felt a little pang of sadness
that she didn’t have a man in her life who looked at her like that.

She’d have to get a man first.

He looked over at her and extended his hand. “You must be
Krista. I’m Josh Woods. It’s a pleasure.”

She shook his hand, smiling. “Krista Owens. And you have
a lovely home.”

He nodded, pulling his hand away, leaving his other arm
wrapped around his wife as he guided her toward the crowd. “Come. Let me
introduce you to my family.”

Krista followed, fighting the urge to stare at her pumps
as they echoed from clicking on the hardwood floor.

“This is Rob, Jack, and Toby.” He pointed to each of the
men as he said their names, and they each stared at her intently. She wasn’t
sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Then the last dude looked away
suddenly, and the one in the middle stepped forward, took her hand, and gave it
a gentle shake as his thumb tenderly rubbed her skin.

“I’m Jackson Woods. Second to the oldest. And it’s a
pleasure to meet such a lovely, beautiful woman.”

Wow.
This guy was smooth. Where Josh
had green eyes, this guy’s were a deep blue, matching her own eye color. His
hair was also cut short, shorter than his brothers’. She could see herself
wrapping her legs around this hunk of man.

The one on the left stepped up and elbowed Jack to the
side as Jack growled at the intrusion. She chuckled, and Jack glanced up at
her, smiling tightly.
Hmm.
So his growl
wasn’t a playful sound. He really seemed irritated that his brother had stepped
over. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The guy was hot and all, but she
didn’t care much for pushy types.

How would you know?
You’d have to mingle with men to know your type
.
Ugh
, mental pep talks sucked, but the voice in her head was right.
She couldn’t write him off just yet.

“I’m Robert Woods. Rob. It’s nice to meet you, Krista.”
He shook her hand with the same care Jack had shown her, but when he finished,
instead of letting go, he held on, dropping their joined hands to his side.
Weird, but okay. She could handle that. This guy was just as hot as Jack. His
eyes were green, but where Josh’s were a deep color, Rob’s were a mossy green,
almost hazel. “How do you like it here so far?”

“Um. I like it just fine. I just got here, though, so I
might feel differently after a few weeks.” She laughed, and he joined her, his
eyes twinkling.

“Not if I have anything to do about it.” He stepped
closer, and she gasped, instinctively moving away.

Mikaela nudged in between them. “Take it down a notch,
hotshot. I don’t want her freaked out on her first day here.”

Krista laughed nervously, tugging her hand free. Rob
inclined his head, giving her a half smile before returning to where he’d been
standing.

“Toby?” Mikaela asked. The guy in question looked up from
his drink, not looking at Krista at all.

“Yeah?”

“You going to come over here and introduce yourself?”

The guy hesitated, looking at Josh and then at Mikaela
before taking the few steps necessary to stand before Krista. Only then did he
look into her eyes again, and she got a better look at him.
Oh bejeezus
, his eyes were a blue-green
mix, and when he gave her a tentative smile as if he were unsure how to act, he
flashed a perfect set of dimples. She had a thing for dimples, and she
immediately wondered if his very fine rear had them, too.

“Toby Woods. Just Toby. I’m the baby ’round here now.” He
quickly shook her hand, but before she had time to relish his touch, he let go,
shoving his hand into his pocket and rocking on his heels. Toby let his eyes
stray back over to Josh before he stepped away.

Unsure what to do now, Krista turned to Mikaela. “You
said something about a drink.”

Jack grabbed her elbow—gently but surely—and pulled her
away from Mikaela, Josh, and Rob. “You can have whatever you want,” he
whispered in her ear as he led her to the table.

Okay, she might be a virgin, but she wasn’t stupid. She
knew Jack’s response was innuendo, but she didn’t quite know how to respond. “Er,
wine?”

He pulled out a chair for her. “White or red, darlin’?”

“Red will be just fine.”

“My kinda girl,” Mikaela said as she came over and sat next
to her. “Grab a bottle of merlot, Jack. We’ll share.”

“I’ll get you a glass, kitten.” Josh bent over and kissed
Mikaela’s cheek before striding out of the room. When the door opened, Krista
could briefly see what looked like an expansive wine room, but her eyes went
straight to Jack. He’d been pulling a bottle from the shelf but had turned,
giving his brother an irritated look. The door swung shut before she could see
much of anything else.

“Hello, gorgeous.” Krista jumped at the voice coming from
beside her and turned to look right at Rob. He’d taken the seat right next to
her.

“Hi,” she breathed. Okay, this was too weird. If she
didn’t know any better, she’d think these men were competing for her attention.
Ridiculous.
They were all tall,
handsome, virile men. And she was a plain-Jane woman with a few extra pounds on
her hips and no notches on her belt.