Love Under Two Benedicts (7 page)

Steven greeted him as he entered the saddle barn. “You on what they call bankers’ hours these days, bro? Good thing you’re going to be moving back here soon. You need to remember what it is to work for a living.”

A soft snort and puff of air caught his attention. He didn’t answer Steven right away, instead heading over to one of the stalls on the west side of the barn. As he approached, the palomino filly in that stall began to nod her head up and down, as if to tell him it was about time he’d made an appearance.

“Hey, Duchess. There’s my girl.”
 
Matthew stroked the mare, a horse he’d had for more than six years. He made it a point to come out to the ranch and ride at least twice a week.

Once things were settled and he was living here again, he’d be able to do that more often. And, he conceded mentally, help out more with ranch work.

“Not my fault the sheriff’s office has a summer schedule. I get Friday afternoon off, as well as Tuesday morning. Then all day Sunday. So not quite bankers’ hours. Jealous?”

“Of a job in town? Hardly. You want to talk here or out there?” Steven nodded toward the range.

Matthew smiled. “Out there. Just let me toss a blanket on my lady here and grab a halter and some reins. We’ll be good to go.”

Before long, he and Steven were setting a brisk pace as they rode out away from the house and barn, deeper onto Benedict land. He loved these times, times when it was just him and his brother, the horses, and the land.

Matthew looked over at his brother, at the look of contentment on his face. Steven’s heart was in the ranch while his was in police work. Because they’d been there together yesterday and because he’d not visited his great-greats at the museum in some time, Matthew’s thoughts turned to the first Benedicts to ride this range. When he let his gaze take in the land, unchanged in the last century or so, he could imagine being back with his ancestors, with Caleb and Joshua as they took over a spread that had first been amassed by a man whose
 
soul had been as black as sin.

“I wonder if they had to step cautiously with Sarah?” Steven asked, proving they were both on the same page. He brought his black gelding, Night Shadow, to a walk and turned, giving his attention to Matthew.

“Some, I imagine. I recall reading Joshua’s journal. They believed her married when they met her, which made things difficult all the way around, considering they both fell in love with her almost at first meeting.”

“I remember reading that, too. Even as they dealt with that small matter of eluding an assassin, it seemed as if they clicked right from the start.”

“Of course,” Matthew said, “we’ve never been allowed to read Sarah’s journal, so we don’t know the entire story.”

Another family tradition was that the men were forbidden to read the journals of Sarah Benedict and Amanda Jessop-Kendall. Those were held in trust by the females of the family, and to date, none of them had ever shared much with their men.

“Maybe we can get Kelsey to answer that question for us one day,” Steven said.

“Maybe we can.”

“You certainly read her right,” Steven said after a moment. “You said she’d agree to sex, call it that, and try to keep things between us only physical.”

“I can hardly blame her, really. How many times has she said she’s not looking to become involved with anyone?” Matthew shrugged his shoulders. “Every time we’ve asked her out, and anytime one of our well-meaning female relatives have tried to play matchmaker, that’s how often. She’s going to need time to accept what she already feels for us. To admit she’s more than attracted, that she’s already half-way in love with us would be, I imagine, a little like saying goodbye to her husband all over again.”

“Hell of a thing,” Steven said. “Lucky that bastard who murdered her husband and son was killed by the cops. Otherwise, we’d have to kill him.”

Matthew didn’t feel the need to comment, as once again, they were on the same page. If there was one thing Benedict men were known for, it was putting their woman front and center in their lives.

“I thought we’d eat here tonight,” Steven said. “We can do up a stir-fry, impress her with our culinary expertise.”

Matthew laughed. “Sounds good. Of course, we can’t tell her the stir-fry is the only indoor cooking we can do.”

“Probably won’t need to. Her being a chef and all, she’s bound to figure it out.”

“Too bad we can’t court her properly like we want to,” Matthew said. “We’ll have to save that for
after
we’re married.”

“After the way she balked at the bit of romance we gave her last night, I believe you’re right.” Steven looked out over the horizon, his eyes taking in their heritage. “Good save there, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Matthew said. “I kind of expected that would be her attitude when she acted all businesslike at the museum. Felt like she’d agreed to think about buying our used car rather than making love with us. Of course, her attitude only leaves us with that one alternative.”

Steven nodded his head. “Fuck her brains out at every opportunity so she becomes addicted to us. And hope in the process her heart prods her to admit she loves us.”

“Shouldn’t take long,” Matthew said. He reined his horse in, turning the mare toward home. “I’m already addicted to
her
.”

“Yeah. That makes two of us.”

* * * *

Kelsey had made one change to the plans for tonight.
 
As she waited for Lusty’s one and only stoplight to turn green, she thought back over the conversation she’d had with Steven earlier that afternoon. She’d expected some sort of argument when she’d told him she wanted to drive out to the ranch herself rather than have them pick her up.

She frowned, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. He hadn’t given her any argument at all, but he
had
talked her into coming earlier. Then he’d told her that since she cooked all day, he and Matthew would throw together some dinner for them.

Since he hadn’t argued about her driving—so she could leave as soon as they were done instead of staying the night—she hadn’t argued about arriving early and letting the men cook. It had meant leaving Tracy to close up, but she’d done that before, and really, what was the point of owning her own business if she couldn’t take advantage of being the boss once in a while? The light turned green, and Kelsey’s thoughts returned to tonight’s agenda. So, okay, they’d have dinner first. It wasn’t as if the three of them were having a date. The body had to eat, and they might as well do it together, and then move right on to the recreation portion of the night’s program.

Probably roast chicken or stir fry, the ever-easy man-meal
.
 

Kelsey drove through town, headed for the state road that led to the ranch. She passed what everyone called the Big House and, right across the street, what they referred to as the New House. That second mansion, home to the Jessop-Kendall family, had been built more than a century ago. Of course, it was built after the Big House, hence its name. Kelsey shook her head. She supposed she’d eventually get used to the way Texans thought. Since she’d lived in the state for nearly ten years already, she wondered when that would be exactly.

As she drove, her mind recalled some of the photos she’d seen at the museum the day before. Now that she thought about it, she realized there were several families in Lusty that had ménage relationships in them.

I wonder why I didn’t notice that before?

If, before yesterday, she’d been asked to describe her new home town in one word, that word would have been “welcoming.”

Being a newcomer and opening a new business in a small town where so many folks were related or could trace their roots back generations to the beginning of the town was usually a recipe for failure. Small towns sometimes tended to be xenophobic, treating outsiders like outsiders for years, if not decades.

Yet, from day one, her restaurant had been full, and people had been nothing but kind to her. At first, she’d attributed that to the fact they all knew she was “Susie’s friend.” Now she wondered if being the place it was, with people living alternate lifestyles, that simply meant everyone was more tolerant and accepting by nature.

She turned into the long, winding lane of the Benedict Ranch. She’d made the right decision, driving herself here. The short commute had done wonders in lifting the minor stress of the day, making her feel as if she’d just got her second wind.

She crested the small hill and smiled when the house came into view. It was just so pretty, that white two-story home with its green trim, wrap-around verandah and Grecian pillars.

Talk about pretty sights.

The two very buff and extremely handsome men standing on that verandah waiting for her certainly qualified as that.

She pulled her car up to just in front of the house. This close, she could see the men’s expressions, even the color of their eyes.

It wasn’t the sparkling blue of Matthew’s eyes or the deep chocolate of Steven’s that drew her. It was the heat, the expression of arousal and, if she wasn’t mistaken, raw, naked intent they both wore. That look acted like a magnet and pulled her from the isolation of her vehicle.

They held their ground—or rather, their verandah—and Kelsey didn’t know whether to approve that move or not. She couldn’t accuse them of crowding her exactly. And they could point out, if they had a mind to, that she was the one who’d driven from town, and she was the one who now walked, one step at a time, toward them.

Why am I thinking in adversarial terms
?

Perhaps her subconscious understood the situation better than she knew. Maybe, when it came right down to it, these men posed a danger to her she’d not quite reckoned upon.

“What’s the matter, darlin’?” Steven’s deep drawl brushed a tremor against her skin. Kelsey tilted her head to the side, her eyes searching and her mind scrambling to find an answer to the question. She’d come to a halt just shy of the steps leading up to them.

“I don’t know. I just…I just felt skittish all of a sudden, as if I was on the precipice of something for a moment.”

“We would never hurt you,” Matthew said. His words, as had his brother’s, shivered through her. She had a sense of something, something big and deep and necessary. And then that sense evaporated. She felt silly. She was being silly.

“I know.” She inhaled deeply. Whatever else was or was not happening here, she did know that. These men would move heaven and hell to protect her, to take care of her. A part of her mind reasoned they’d do as much for any woman they took to their bed, and she believed that.

She also thought that what they were building between the three of them meant she somehow was special to them, and she believed that, too.

She didn’t want to have anything beyond the physical, really. On the other hand, she wanted to matter to them, and she believed she did.

“Then come here,” Steven said. “We’ve been patient waiting for you. But we need to touch you and kiss you and say hello.”

Kelsey felt her smile widen. Steven wasn’t one to spend too much time talking. Of the two brothers, he seemed the quietest. Matthew could talk a virgin out of her underwear. Steven would crook his finger, and she’d drop them gladly.

Kelsey was no virgin, and she felt the double-barrel impact of the brothers Benedict in every part of her body.

Just hearing Steven’s stated intentions already had her nipples hard and her pussy wet.

She inhaled deeply, settled her inner voices, and went to them.

Chapter 7

Waiting for Kelsey to take those few steps up to him was the hardest thing Steven had ever done. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her to bed where he and his brother could just
plunder
. Energy sizzled through him, and he didn’t have to look at Matthew to know it was the same for him.

He could see a similar awareness dancing through Kelsey, too. One look in her pretty green eyes and he knew she felt the air change around them, though she likely had no idea why.

Steven figured the universe gave off some kind of signal when mates came together. Had to be because that was exactly the sensation rolling through him.

“I thought about you all day,” he said when she came nearer. She took one more step forward, and he reached for her, brought her all the way forward until her body nestled flush against his.
 

“Hello, Kelsey.” He covered her mouth with his, needing to take her taste into himself more than he needed his next breath. He needed to begin the feasting that would sate his appetite. She tasted better than ripe peaches. Stroking his hands across her back and down to her luscious ass, he cupped her and brought her hips even closer, ensuring she felt her affect on him. His tongue explored her mouth, sweeping inside, brushing against her teeth, until he felt the tension in her let go, until she used her tongue to taste him in turn.

Despite his cock already being hard and getting harder with each second, he eased back from her. When she opened her eyes, blinked as if regaining her senses, he leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on her nose.