Blaine, Destiny - Domination Plantation [Southern Plantation 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (15 page)

* * * *

“Get up.” Brogan set two mugs and a hot pot of coffee on the nightstand.

“What the hell, man?” Jules grumbled, dragging her body closer.

Jenna wrapped her arms around his waist. He caressed her back as she lay in his arms. She barely realized she was still on earth, much less in bed with one of the sexiest men this side of heaven.

“It’s Fiona,” Brogan said. “She had a bad night. Heath doesn’t think she’ll bounce back this time.”

“What?” Jenna sat upright. Immediately, tears formed in her eyes. “You mean—”

“Heath wanted us to take you and Serena home today, but Jules and I can’t leave. We have several feeder cattle coming in tomorrow, so we can’t drive you down to Birmingham until Sunday. Jenna”—Brogan took her hand in his and paused—“I was able to book a seat on one of the commuter flights but there was only one seat left.”

Jenna shook her head. “No, don’t you dare apologize. I’ll go when you can take me or I can buy a bus ticket. Serena should be on that flight. I’ll go help her pack.”

She rose from the bed and looked around. Brogan arched a brow and then eyed the pile of clothes in the floor.

“When I was in my bed last night, I was sleeping in pajamas.”

Jules shrugged. “That was in your bed. Under my sheets, you won’t need them.” He reached for a mug and poured her a cup of coffee.

Brogan grinned, watching her as she dressed. “I can’t resist temptation.”

“I’m sure you can’t,” she snapped, wondering how in the world a man could gawk at a woman with lust in his eyes when a true crisis loomed. Their niece needed their attention, and there she was with Brogan and Jules behind closed doors. After she dressed, Jules handed her the ceramic mug.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. You come on back and sleep here tonight, ya hear?”

She stopped at the door and glared at him. “You really are something, aren’t you?”

Brogan held his tongue to his upper lip. “Yeah, he thinks he is.”

“And you wear the same identical shoes,” she said, setting her coffee cup down on the dresser. “Your niece needs you—both of you right now—and you can’t keep your eyes off of me. Could you try and show her a little respect, please?”

Brogan’s eye twitched and he shook his head. “You know, from where I’m sitting it looks like we’re not the only ones who have a little problem with respect.” He opened the door and pointed down the hall. “You think Serena doesn’t know where you slept last night?”

“I…”

“Save it,” Jules warned. “He’s just jealous.”

“He doesn’t have any reason to be jealous.”

“The hell he doesn’t,” Jules muttered. “I’m the one who took the first kiss and the first—”

Disgusted now, Jenna shook her head and marched out. Men were all the same. They were all pigs with hard dicks and no brains. She also decided there wasn’t a man alive who was compassionate. Not one.

Well, maybe Heath was exempt. She walked in the bedroom and found Serena curled up on the phone talking to her daddy. Jenna suddenly felt like an outsider.

Chapter Ten

Serena’s tears sprinkled over her cheeks, and Jenna matched her drop for drop. They stood in the middle of the airport’s small terminal and embraced.

“Jenna, Mom won’t even know I’m there,” she said, sorrow lacing her words.

“I know. I want you to go and sit by her bed. Tell her how much she’s loved. You do that for me, okay?”

Serena blew her nose in a rose-colored tissue. “I’ll tell her what a difference she made in all of our lives, especially yours.”

“She knows,” Jenna reminded Serena. “But you make sure you tell her anyway.”

“I will,” Serena whispered. “She’s always known how important she is to her family.” With a squeeze for Jenna and one for each of her uncles, she said her final farewell and headed for the gate when the last boarding call was announced.

Standing next to Jules and Brogan, Jenna watched Serena disappear down the steep steps and walk across the limited stretch of pavement located next to the runway. From the entrance of the plane, Serena turned around, forced a smile, and threw her hand in the air one final time.

Jenna crossed her arms across her chest and finally broke. Fortunately, a row of chairs were lined up behind her and she slumped against one of the wide orange seats before covering her face with her palms. “I don’t understand. I spoke to Fiona yesterday. She was fine.”

“Her body rejected a new treatment,” Brogan explained.

She pressed her lips together and looked away. “I don’t understand. She said she was feeling better. She said she couldn’t wait to see us. How could this happen?”

“She tried an experimental drug,” Brogan explained. “Heath and Fiona knew the risks involved, Jenna.”

She sobbed as she thought about Fiona. How much she’d clung to hope, how much she’d wanted the new medicine to work, how hard she’d prayed, and now her final days had come down to this?

“Jenna,” Jules began. “Let us get you home, okay?”

She shook her head. “I think you were right all along. I need to stay somewhere else, especially now.”

Brogan sat beside her. “What you need is what we’re going to give you, right, Jules?”

He nodded and cupped her neck. Searching her eyes, Jules, said, “You’re going home with us, Jenna. We’ll take care of you. I swear it.”

The offer made went beyond a one-month deal. At that moment, she longed to tell them not to break her heart. Instead of expressing her fears, she asked, “What do you mean take care of me?”

“We’ll talk about it,” Jules replied. “But you’re a smart young woman. I think you already have a pretty good idea of what I’m proposing.”

Proposing?
The word without the everlasting meaning held nearly the same significant impact. Every nerve ending in her body came alive.

“And what if you change your mind?” she asked, the uncertainty driving her. “You might. It’s possible, you know.”

“Jules knows what he wants, Jenna. I’m not sure. It’s the best we can offer.”

A man like Brogan didn’t make promises or guarantees blindly. He didn’t know what Jules and Jenna had shared, perhaps he didn’t know whether or not they’d welcome him into the situation, a relationship of sorts, but he was willing to try and figure things out. She’d never consider putting up a fight. She felt like, almost from the beginning, that Brogan and Jules were a package deal, at least where she was concerned.

Jenna reached for her purse about the time her cell phone played “Song of the South” and announced her caller. She quickly answered, “Dad? Hello?”

Jules and Brogan exchanged a look of disgust. It was more than a little obvious. They had a difficult time hearing her address Heath as dad.

“Jenna, honey has Serena left yet? She isn’t answering her phone.”

“She’s already gone,” Jenna replied. “The plane took off about five minutes ago.”

“Ah no. Oh well, I’ll meet her at the airport.”

Jenna’s hands shook. Her heart raced and her palms felt clammy. “Dad, is everything all right?”

“I just wanted her to know that we really believe Fiona will beat this now. Her tests are showing improvements. Her doctors say she’s not ready to check out yet.”

“What happened?”

“Honey, it was one of those freak things. She definitely had several life-threatening reactions to the new medication, but she’s out of danger again. She’s a real survivor.”

Gripping the phone tighter, Jenna closed her eyes. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear that.”

“It’s a miracle, really. Her doctors recommended a new drug, one with no guarantees and a long list of side effects. She had a rough night, all right. That said, these doctors think once they adjust the dosage, this medicine is really going to help. I’m here with her now. Would you like to say hello?”

“Yes! Of course.”

Fiona’s weak voice came across the phone lines a few seconds later. “Jenna, hon, everything is fine here. Tell me about you.”

That was Fiona, always eager to hear about her life or Serena’s. She never wanted to talk about her illness or treatments, or God forbid, her pain.

“I’m good,” she told her, laughing through the tears. “I’m so good now. You wouldn’t believe.”

After they chatted for a minute, Jenna slid the phone into Brogan’s hand and said, “She wants to talk to you.”

“Hello?” Brogan walked away with the phone in hand.

Jules hugged her and then, to her surprise, gave her a very public kiss. His lips skimmed across hers as he offered her just the right dose of reassurance. “Fiona loves her family and she’s a real fighter, Jenna. We’ve all known this from the beginning.”

“Yes we have,” she mumbled against his sweet mouth, lost in their moment.

Jules Evans wanted to kiss her in public, mark her as his woman in front of the local crowd. She assumed some of those who turned to watch them, knew him. They understood the kind of man he was, the kind of women he wanted. None of it mattered. She belonged in his arms.

* * * *

They drove back to the ranch in silence. By the time they arrived, the local crowd had filled their lower pasture with vehicles. The cars were lined up in a neat row with their drivers and passengers loitering nearby.

“Jenna,” Brogan began. “Let Jules get you up to the house. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Jenna arched her brow. “Do I look like a woman who wants to miss out on the fun you two plan to have?”

Jules wrapped his arm around her waist. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “You won’t be slighted tonight, Jenna. You won’t be out of my sight.”

Brogan chuckled. “That’s about what I thought.”

“Your loss, bro,” Jules said, giving her a tight squeeze.

“What if it’s my loss, too?” she asked, daring to draw in another Evans brother.

Brogan shot her a sideways glance. “You think you can handle both of us, Jenna?”

“Has anyone ever tried?” She knew they had.

“Many have tried and some have failed,” he said, dark circles shadowing his eyes, worry crinkling his forehead with the same expression she’d witnessed earlier when he’d spoken to Fiona.

“I’m not accustomed to failing, Brogan.”

“You just did,” he barked. His tone held a little rasp, and the bite in his pitch wasn’t near as damning as the look in his eyes.

He left her to stare at his ass, something she was mad at herself for noticing after the way he’d dismissed her. She wondered then what she saw in Brogan. Jules offered the whole package, minus the attitude, which certainly offered a few pluses in his favor.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked, taking the hand Jules offered.

He shrugged. “Brogan has a few issues, in case you haven’t figured it out already.”

“Yeah, I gathered as much. One of them”—she nodded toward Marcy when she saw her approaching the barn—“is her, right?”

“Marcy Mahoney is a man’s distraction. She’s nothing more than a temporary diversion for any man who needs one.”

“Did you ever need one?” she asked curiously.

“You want to talk about me and Marcy?”

“Yes. Was there ever a Marcy and Jules?”

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation. “Honey, there’s always been a Marcy and someone. Most of the time there’s a Marcy and several someones.”

“So she’s easy,” she said right as Jules opened the front door.

“Not as easy as you,” he said, grinning.

Jenna thinned her lips. She couldn’t think of anything to say. He scooped her up and carried her cradle-style up the front stairs before she had a fair chance to pout.

“I resent the accusation.”

“I know you do,” he said, grinning. “But you didn’t exactly put up a fight, now did you?”

Jenna saw the twinkle in his eyes. He thrust his hand under her shirt and tweaked her nipple with his thumb. She sighed in satisfaction as he pinched the bud tighter

He was right. She hadn’t played hardball, but something told her it was time for a change.

“Set me down,” she demanded.

“Here?” he asked playfully.

“Yes,” she replied. “It’s as good a place as any.”

“No,” he said, walking into the bedroom a couple of seconds later. “I had this in mind.” He dropped her on the bed, and she hopped right back up, marching toward the door.

He grinned, licked his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Men just didn’t get it. Women, however, did. And she knew how to deal with Jules Evans. She’d been taught, and she was schooled well.

“Nothing, doll,” she hummed. “I just decided you’re right. Without a doubt, I was easy, at least where you’re concerned. Tonight, I’m playing hard to get, and I’m going to bed alone.”

Jules looked like he just lost his best friend. “I want you to present,” he said, stepping into his role as her Master without a moment to spare, his second nature kicking his ass so hard that he didn’t have another choice.

And neither did she. His commanding voice was what she’d longed to hear and definitely what she’d needed from her dominant partner.