Healing Pleasure (8 page)

“There’s plenty of empty rooms in this house, especially with six of our oldest boys gone. You’ll stay in Rowdy’s room on the third floor. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a bit knowing a pretty thing like you will be sleeping in his bed tonight.” She widened her eyes dramatically and waggled her brows. “On second thought, he probably would mind seeing as how he’s off on a boat somewhere instead of in that bed with you. But that’s his loss,” she hurried on. “You’re not meant for him anyways.”

* * * *

She fit in as if she’d been with them her whole life. Trey rested an ankle on the opposite knee, angling his ass in the rocking chair to get a better view of Lena, and felt himself grin. Most of the family had ventured out onto the front porch after dinner as they often did to simply shoot the breeze and enjoy the evening air. Four of the younger boys had gathered at the end of the porch with their box guitars, fiddle, and harmonica and had struck up a good ole’ bluegrass song.

Lena sat closest to the boys, leaning comfortably back in another of the rocking chairs with one leg tucked beneath her and the other foot on the floor, her toes keeping time with the beat. Even in the pale light of the porch lamps, the dazzling smile on her angelic face brightened the night. She’d pulled her long autumn strands into a ponytail at her nape, exposing the slender column of her tantalizing neck.

Though he thoroughly enjoyed the conservative skirts she wore, he hoped she’d brought along some blue jeans or shorts. He hadn’t taken a day off since he’d returned to the ranch, more out the necessity to keep his mind busy than because the hired hands and younger boys really needed his help. Maybe he should tomorrow, though. He could take her out on the ranch, show her around, and maybe even teach her how to ride.

His attention dropped to her ankle at the idea and his gaze did a slow climb up her shapely leg to the hem of the skirt riding high on her thigh, but not so much that it revealed any glimpse of the sweet treasure between her legs. He’d start with a horse, of course, and work his way up to teaching her to ride what he really wanted. Baby steps. He’d already moved faster than he’d intended with her and had sensed her unease and uncertainty because of it. Hitting the ground running with her wasn’t the best plan.

Neither is letting her in too far.

He heeded the warning and understood its cause. Falling for her wasn’t the best plan either, though he already knew it would be a sure test of his willpower not to let it happen. In less than a month, provided Brit’s knee and mind heeled as they should, they would both be returning to the Navy. Brit would likely have to spend a few weeks in the office pushing a pencil and aiding the SEALs in other areas before he could return to full active duty, but he’d be there and that was all that mattered.

He won’t be there because of you.

Trey didn’t want to acknowledge the chilling truth of the thought. The fact that Brit was sitting here now both had everything to do with him and nothing to do with him at all. Brit had gotten hurt because he’d held Bravo team back. If he hadn’t done that, if he had followed one simple order, his friend wouldn’t be going through the hell he’d been going through since the clusterfucked op. Brit had been there for him years ago, but the one time Brit had needed him, he’d fucked up. It was knowledge that was eating at his soul.

Brit didn’t blame him, or at least Trey didn’t think he did. He should though, and Trey could only hope once the man passed his physical tests, which he had no doubt Brit would do as soon as he got his head on straight again, things would go back to the way they were before.

And what if they don’t?

The question tightened a knot of fear in Trey’s gut. The man sitting in the rocking chair adjacent to him wasn’t the man he’d known nearly half his life, but that man would come back. It was only a matter of time and he knew a sexy, desirable woman who was going to help make that happen.

He tore his attention from Lena long enough to cast a quick glance at Brit, amused and pleased to see his friend’s focus locked on Lena. Brit’s lips were slightly tilted in the closest thing to a smile Trey had seen on his friend’s lips in a while.

They hadn’t been earlier, though. Trey pulled his gaze from Brit and looked out over the railing into the front yard. The other six younger boys had enticed Trent and Bobby into a game of football. Trey didn’t see the play that had Dillon pumping his fist in the air as the memory of Brit’s angered face filled his vision. Brit had cornered Lena in the front parlor and she’d told him the true reason she was on the ranch. If Horace hadn’t threatened to take every bit of Brit’s exercise equipment away, Trey figured he’d still be eating dirt right about now. As it turned out, he’d only suffered a punch to the jaw that continued to throb like a bitch before the old man had stepped in.

The four boy band completed their song and a comfortable silence fell over the porch, broken only by the grunts and smacks of the football game. Movement out of the corner of his eye had Trey looking back in time to see Horace and May rising from the porch swing to his right.

“It’s time to call it day,” Horace announced loud enough to be heard by the athletes in the yard. “Rooster is gonna crow awfully early in the mornin’.”

May stopped by Lena’s chair to bid her goodnight before moving to Trey. “You take her up and show her to Rowdy’s room. She can stay in there tonight.” She turned her head toward Lena, but not before Trey caught the sparkle of mischief in her eyes. “Don’t be afraid to speak your mind if you don’t like something about that room, honey. You’re more than welcome in any room on that third floor aside from Trent and Bobby’s.”

Trey bit back a grin at the color that rose to Lena’s cheeks bright enough to shine red through the darkness. He pushed to his feet and pulled May in for a hug. “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll see to it she gets settled in comfortably.”

May patted his cheek as she pulled back. “I know you will, son.”

Obviously taking the cue it was time to head inside, Lena unfolded herself out of the rocking chair and walked to his side. “I have a bag in my trunk.”

“Where are your keys? I’ll get it for you.”

“It’s unlocked. There’s a button inside by the steering wheel that will release the trunk.”

Trey glanced at Brit who hadn’t moved. “Why don’t you and Brit head on up? I’ll be right behind you after I get your bag.”

He took the steps to the yard two at a time to her car. By the time he’d retrieved the overnight case she’d brought and returned to the porch, she and Brit had already disappeared inside. He found them inches from the stairs and slowed his step as he listened to their conversation.

“How is your knee feeling?”

“Better than ever.”

Trey heard the lace of pain in his friend’s voice and knew damn well he wasn’t telling Lena the truth. Apparently, she knew it, too.

“Are you lying?”

Brit shot her a look as he held onto the handrail and moved gingerly up the stairs. “No, I’m fibbing.”

Lena’s laugh was full of sultry amusement and music. “Should I get another ice pack? Maybe some pain meds? Both might help you sleep.”

“Darlin’, the only way you’re gonna put another ice pack on my knee is if you’re planning to do it while you’re lying next to me all night. That’ll help me sleep.”

She fell silent until they reached the third set of stairs as if she were actually considering what Brit had said. “I would, if thought you’d keep your hands to yourself.”

“If memory serves, darlin’, you kissed me first earlier.”

“In a moment of insanity, yes. And, if memory serves, you didn’t keep your hands to yourself then, either. I wonder why it is I’m thinking you wouldn’t be a good boy tonight.”

“It’s just because you don’t know me well enough yet, sweet thing. Stay in my room and I’ll show you what a good boy I can be.”

Trey snorted before he could stop himself. Both of them stopped at the top of the stairs to turn and look at him. “Sorry.” He really was. Maybe if he hadn’t interrupted them, she might have changed her mind. Hell,
she’d
kissed Brit. That was news to him. It was good news despite the jealousy that twisted in his gut.

Brit turned first and headed down the hall, stopping just outside his door. “This is my room,” he told Lena, shooting a quick glance at Trey over her head. “I’ll let your boyfriend show you the room you’ll be staying in tonight.”

Trey heard Lena’s quiet sigh as Brit disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him. “He’s still pissed at me.” He placed his free hand on the small of her back and gently urged her toward the next closed door. “He’ll be over it by morning.”

Lena’s expression said she hoped so as she reached to take her bag from his hand. She glanced down the hall before looking back at him. “Which room is yours?”

“We’ve already passed it. It’s the one on the other side of Brit’s.” It took every ounce of control he possessed not to offer to show it to her. After listening to Brit’s rejection, even if the man had issued it in his best jerkish mode, combined with the knowledge that she’d apparently made the first move on Brit, he knew any offer like that he could make would be met with the same refusal.

“I hope he is over it by morning, though it probably won’t last long after what I intend to do.”

Intrigued, Trey lifted a brow. “Oh? What you got in mind, sugar?”

She winked at him, her blue eyes dancing with mischief. “You’ll see, but I’ll need your help. Any chance you can take the day off from working on the ranch?”

“I’d already planned on it.”

“Good. We’ll talk about it more before breakfast.” She found the knob behind her and opened the bedroom door. “I’ll see you in the morning, Trey.”

Trey stood for a long moment staring at the now closed door, his cock aching painfully as his mind conjured up images of her getting naked as she prepared for bed. Morning was too damn far away.

* * * *

Lena couldn’t move, couldn’t see, and could scarcely breathe. They had positioned her on her knees, her upper body supported by what felt like a stack of pillows, her wrists bound behind her back, and her ankles tethered with what felt like a spacer strap between them.

Something touched the bottom of her left foot. A callused fingertip, she realized as it tickled over her heel and dragged excruciatingly slowly up her calf, the back of her knee and thigh, and stopped to draw lazy circles on her ass cheek. Another hand glided over her cheek, the fingers lacing in her hair before fisting the strands and pulling her head up.

She couldn’t see either of them through the darkness of the blindfold over her eyes, but she felt the warmth of their bodies and the control that pumped off them in waves, sending a river of anticipation and wickedly dark excitement washing through her.

“Tell me you want what we’re about to do to you, sugar.”

Trey’s calm, cool, authoritative command sent ripples of need sizzling through her.

She swallowed, licked her lips, and eagerly obeyed. “I want what you’re about to do to me.”

“Do you know what we aimed to do to you, darlin’?”

Brit’s thickened drawl came from farther away. That was his hand on her ass, his callused palm working her cheeks into a needy frenzy of heated lust.

“No.” She only knew she was at their mercy. It felt so good to be here again, at the control of a man, or men, as the case turned out to be. She’d never submitted to two men at once. The wicked sensations barreling through her at the realization that no inch of her flesh would go untouched or untormented were indescribable.

“You’re about to get your first riding lesson.”

She smiled even as a white-hot bolt of trepidation shot through her. An arm pushed beneath her, curled around her waist, and she felt her upper body being lifted. She shivered as her body was guided into a new position, this time straddling one of them. The way their hands moved as they shifted her, she lost track of which pair belonged to who.

“Relax, sugar.”

Trey’s voice was the one that came further away now. She obeyed, not realizing she’d tensed until he’d given her the order.

Don’t fight them. This is what I was training you for.

Her breath caught in her throat as a third voice reached her ears. Mark. She had to have imagined it. He couldn’t be here. It was impossible because he was…

“Snake’s been hit! Fuck!”

The terrified cries ripped Lena from sleep. She sat up in bed, disoriented, her pussy wet and her body aching from the dream. She raked her hair from her face and waited for her mind to clear. The second scream split the night and she knew in an instant that part hadn’t been a dream.

“We’re being fucking ambushed.”

She hurried out of bed, realizing the sounds were coming from the room next door. “Brit?”

She stepped into the hallway at the same time Trey came out of his room. The silvery light of the full moon outside the window at the end of the hall enabled her to see his face. She watched as his gaze locked with hers before slowly falling down the length of her body, no doubt seeing straight through the thin, white silk teddy she’d worn to bed.

Behind her, more doors opened, tearing her attention from the delicious sight of Trey’s bare shoulders, rock hard pecs, totally ripped abdomen, and the line of his groin that disappeared beneath the elastic waistband of the jogging pants riding low on his lean hips. She spun on her heel to find Trent and Bobby stepping out of their respective rooms. Both men froze at the sight of her and it was plainly obvious by their expressions they were doing their damnedest to keep their gazes on her face.