by Leah Brooke
Mason moved his finger again. “Just testing. Your ass is as responsive as the rest of you. Jesus, are we gonna have fun with you. If you hadn’t already had several orgasms already this morning, I would show you just how much.” With a groan, he released her, straightening and moving away.
“I have to keep reminding myself that you’re not used to this yet, and not fully recovered. Let’s get dressed and get the hell out of here before I forget my good intentions and work on that ass.”
Shaking with reaction at the awareness Mason had created around her puckered opening, Kendra got dressed, worked the tangles out of her hair, and pulled it back in a scrunchie, finishing just as Mason reappeared again.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her back against him, scraping his teeth over her neck. “I can’t get enough of you. You’re a dangerous woman, Kendra.” Sliding his hand under the hem of her sweatshirt, he caressed her stomach, smiling when she shivered. “I don’t think you’ve been appreciated enough.” He turned her to face him, one hand sliding under her shirt and up her back. “No bra. Good.”
Cupping her jaw, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip, his eyes filled with possessiveness. “I want to touch you every chance I get. I think I’m addicted.”
* * * *
Sitting at the round, wooden table, Kendra let the men’s conversation flow around her as she picked at her sandwich and tried to concentrate on her grocery list.
Ever since the others came in for lunch, a lunch she hadn’t had time to prepare, she’d been aware of their sharp scrutiny and amusement, and so far couldn’t look any of them in the eye.
Although they’d looked a little surprised, none of them said a word about having cold sandwiches for lunch, which made her feel even guiltier for sending them back out into the cold without a hot meal.
Even though their conversation centered on the ranch and things that needed to be done, she knew that most of their attention remained on her.
Clearing her throat, she glanced at Grant. “Lisa called for you.”
Grant frowned. “Did she say something to upset you?”
Warmed that he cared more about how the call affected her than what his ex-wife had to say, Kendra smiled. “No. She informed me that she would let you win her back when you come to your senses.”
“Fuck her.” Grant went back to eating his lunch.
Kendra laughed. “I hung up on her.”
Grant’s smile warmed her all the way through. “Good. If she calls again, just keep hanging up.”
“Speaking of coming—”
Barrett scowled at him. “Who the hell said anything about coming?”
Mason laughed and sat back in his chair, reaching out a hand to play with the ends of her hair. “Lisa will let Grant win him back when he comes to her senses.”
“Good Lord.” Quinn shook his head. “I guess being with Kendra this morning has you in a good mood. Can I assume this is why we’re eating cold sandwiches for lunch?”
Kendra’s face burned. “I’m sorry.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed, a decadent smile curving his lips. “How sorry?”
All conversation stopped as all eyes turned in her direction.
Recognizing the gleam in his eyes, Kendra tapped the pen on the table and pretended to consider that. “Um, relatively sorry.”
“Excuse me?”
His deep, almost whispered tone had a hint of threat and teasing in it that sent shivers of delight up and down her spine. Sitting back in his chair, he regarded her steadily while the others tried to hide smiles. “We’ve been working out in the cold all morning, and we’ll be back out there until dinner, and you don’t think we deserve to have a hot meal when we come in?”
Kendra adopted the most serious expression she could manage. “Oh, definitely.”
“So what’s your excuse for not fixing a hot lunch?”
Smiling, she shared a look with Mason, who smiled back, his eyes filled with affection and amusement. “I was busy.”
Reaching across, Mason took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “The reason she didn’t is because she was in bed with me. I found her heading toward Grant’s room dressed in nothing but a towel.”
Grant’s slow smile made her pulse trip, the memory of his lovemaking reawakening the awareness in her clit. “Really? You were in my room while I was gone?”
Kendra stared at his mouth, remembering the feel of his tongue on her slit. “I wasn’t snooping or anything. I just wanted to get my things.”
Rising from his chair, he picked up his plate and moved behind her, touching his lips to her hair. “I don’t mind. I like the thought of you in my room. Did you find everything you wanted?” He moved away, setting his plate in the sink, looking at her over his shoulder as he went to the coffeepot.
Kendra glanced at Quinn. “I never made it to your room.”
Mason laughed softly. “I mentioned that I found her heading that way in nothing but a towel.” Running a hand over her hair, he leaned close. “She needs some more stuff. Or, better yet, why doesn’t she just stay in my room every night?”
Leaning back, he continued to play with the ends of her hair. “You should smell my bathroom.”
Grant turned from the sink and frowned. “So that stuff isn’t in my bathroom anymore?”
Mason grinned. “Nope. It’s all in mine.”
Barrett rose from the table. “Put the stuff on the list. There’s no point in moving it back and forth.”
Kendra’s breath caught when Barrett rose from his chair and came toward her, bending low and lifting her against his chest.
Lowering his big frame into her chair, he settled her on his lap, running a hand over her thigh. “Put the things you need on the list. I know that it’ll make you more comfortable to have your things around you.” He turned to Mason. “When you call Jim, tell him to have his wife stop at the store and buy Kendra some more of these.”
Kendra looked at Grant and Mason, searching for a sign of how they felt about Quinn’s flirting and the fact that Barrett held her.
Neither seemed to be upset, and even though they all seemed to consider her their lover, she still couldn’t get over feeling guilty. She’d spent most of the morning in bed with Mason while the others had been out working.
Gesturing toward her clothing, Barrett shrugged as if not knowing what to call her sweat suit. “This looks comfortable and it’ll keep you warm. What about other things? You need some thicker socks.”
Grant turned, leaning against the counter. “And some panties.”
Quinn grunted. “What the hell does she need panties for?”
Shaking her head, Kendra tried to get up, but Barrett leaned back in the chair, pulling her against his chest. “I don’t need anything. I bought three sweat suits in town before going to the diner, remember? And I’ll buy my own panties, thank you.”
She tried to sit up again, but Barrett tightened the hand at her back, keeping her in place. “Do you have the clothes I wore on the plane?”
Barrett eyed her curiously and began to rub her back, long, firm strokes that eased the tight muscle there. “No.” He stared down at her, his eyes narrowed and searching. “Except for your coat and boots, we cut everything else off of you.”
“Oh.” Aware of the others watching them, Kendra tried to remain stiff under Barrett’s firm massage, but the warm, smooth caress made it impossible.
Lifting her chin, Barrett stared down at her, his eyes hooded. “I don’t like that panicked look in your eyes. You get it every time you’re with all of us. Is there a problem?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grant step closer. “She always looks like she feels guilty. I remember that look well, and it pisses me off.”
From behind her, Mason ran a hand over her hair. “She’s different when we’re alone together.” His chair scraped on the wooden floor as he moved in closer behind her. “She’s sweet and loves to cuddle, but tries to hide it. After sex, though, she tries to p
ut distance between us.”
Lowering himself into the chair at her feet, Grant nodded. “But the need for intimacy is still in her eyes. I think she’s afraid of being rejected.”
Stiffening, she tried once again to sit up, but Barrett easily overcame her struggles. “You’re dead wrong about me. Damn it! Let me up—and stop talking about me as if I’m not here.”
“Oh, we know you’re here.” A muscle worked in Quinn’s jaw. “I’m sure the others are just as hard as I am, and we’re all hoping Barrett lifts that shirt so we can have a look at those pretty breasts.”
Kendra gasped, her nipples tingling with awareness under Quinn’s gaze. Crossing her arms over them, she forced herself to a sitting position, surprised that Barrett allowed it.
“There’s nothing wrong. Sometimes I just feel a little overwhelmed.”
Quinn inclined his head. “I can understand that, but there’s no reason to be uncomfortable, or embarrassed that you spent the morning with Mason. Believe me, baby, we’re all going to carve out time to be alone with you.”
Barrett slid his hands up, closing them over her breasts. “Maybe the best way to make you comfortable with all of us is to have some intimacy while we’re all together.”
His gaze held hers as he slowly lifted her sweat shirt, pushing it out of the way, and baring her breasts. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with us. We all want you very much. Bending, he touched his lips to hers. “Very much.”
Kendra moaned when Barrett adjusted her on his lap to face the table, pulling her back against him. Meeting Quinn’s hooded gaze, she sucked in a breath when Barrett’s callused hands slid to her breasts, cupping and lifting them as if showing and offering them to the others. “Oh, God.” Her nipples beaded tight, aching so much that her stomach muscles tightened in anticipation.
Mason groaned and slid his hand over her belly. “You want to come again, baby?”
The sexually charged atmosphere became even more intense as Mason shoved Barrett’s hand aside and took her left breast in his hand. Bending close, he licked her nipple. “You like having your nipples licked, don’t you?”
Kendra felt as if she’d stepped into an erotic fantasy, crying out when Mason began to suck her nipple into his mouth.
Across the table, Quinn leaned forward, his eyes glittering. “Barrett, pinch her nipple.”
The anticipation made her nipple ache, making the pressure Barrett applied to it even more intense. The pleasure shooting from her nipples to her slit had her writhing on Barrett’s lap, her cries of pleasure filling the room.
With a ragged groan, Grant pulled his chair closer and leaned over her, knocking Mason’s hand from her belly. “She likes that.” Sliding his hand into the waistband of her sweat pants, he covered her mound with his palm, using his fingers to part her folds. “She’s wet. Every time I touch her, she’s wet. I don’t think she knows just how arousing that is to a man.”
Kendra gritted her teeth against the pleasure. “I can’t help it. You make me crazy. God, that feels good!”
Something in Grant’s eyes caught her attention and held it, a satisfaction and hunger in them that fueled her own. The slow slide of his finger over her clit drove her wild, the sharp stabs of pleasure from the attention to her nipples earning cry after cry from her.
Hands seemed to be everywhere at once, an erotic sensation unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
Although Quinn didn’t touch her, she felt his gaze as strongly as a caress.
Barrett rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, his other hand holding her uninjured thigh. “I love those cries. Look at Quinn. Look at the way he’s watching you. Look at the hunger in his eyes. I’ll bet he wishes he had his hands on you.”
Getting to his feet, Quinn stared down at her, his eyes flaring when she cried out again as Grant plunged a finger into her. “I’ll have my hands on her, and when I do, she won’t forget it.”
Kendra sucked in a breath, clenching on Grant’s finger. “Big talk. Oh, God!”
Grant pressed his finger deeper and slid his thumb over her clit, his jaw clenching at her cry. “Hmm, she always seems to have just a little attitude when she gets aroused. She can get almost violent when she’s about to come.”
Arching, she rocked her hips, her moans becoming hoarse and more desperate as the warm tingling in her clit started to spread. “Oh, God! Yes.”
How could she have gone through life never knowing this pleasure?
The pleasure swelled inside her, making her body bow as it crested, the waves of heat and sensation washing over her so intense, they made her dizzy.
Mason lifted his head, running a hand over her breast and stroking her nipple, still moist from his mouth. “We’re gonna have to hire more men. I don’t know how the hell we’re going to get any work done.”
Kendra moaned as their hands gentled, their tender caresses drawing the pleasure out until she melted and slumped heavily against Barrett. She looked from Mason to Quinn to Grant, struck by the look of hunger and indulgence in their eyes.
Mason’s devilish smile widened. “Beautiful, isn’t she?”
Grant smiled tenderly. “Yes, she is.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed as they raked over her, his jaw clenching, but he said nothing. The look of hunger glittering in his eyes, however, spoke volumes.
Smoothing his hand over her breast, Barrett buried his face in her neck and nuzzled a particularly sensitive spot. “We’ve never had a woman in the house before, baby. You make the house feel so different.”
* * * *
Barrett had forgotten—tried to forget—the change having a woman around the house made.
Having Kendra here changed the house they shared in many ways, her presence somehow turning it into a home.
He tried to imagine what it would have been like to have four different women in the same house, and knew the tension and jealousies would have made them all miserable.
She…fit…here and in their lives with a naturalness and rightness that he never would have believed.
He’d always been the possessive type. He hadn’t ever imagined sharing a lover with another man.
Even a week ago, he would have dismissed such an idea with disdain.
Yet, here he sat, holding Kendra, pleasuring her, even as Grant and Mason did the same.
And felt better than he had in a long time.
He shared a look with Grant, seeing the same satisfaction and sense of contentment on his face.
Unlike Mason and Quinn, they’d both been married. They’d both had a woman who’d made their house a home.
And they’d both lost it.
He’d lost his wife to death, and Grant had lost his to divorce, both of them struggling to come to grips with being alone.
Mason seemed to have accepted her presence, and seemed delighted to have her in their lives, but Quinn looked as if he’d been kicked in the stomach.
Kendra’s small frame slumped against his chest, her breathing ragged. “I can’t believe this.”
Smiling, Barrett kissed her hair. “Believe it.”
Struggling to sit up, she turned to glare at him over her shoulder, wiping away a tear. She gulped, her breath hitching. “I’m not like this, damn it.”
He’d dealt with feminine indignation and self-doubt often enough to recognize it. He shared another look with Grant before giving Mason a warning look before his friend could say something flippant.
Gathering her trembling body against him, he kissed her neck, smiling when she shivered. “You’re perfect. You just get a little vulnerable after you come.”
Christ, she excited him.
Knowing that she’d feel more secure clothed, he pulled her shirt back down to cover her. “You’re a passionate woman who hasn’t had the freedom to explore that passion. We’re honored that you can explore it with us. It humbles me to know that you trust me enough to let yourself go in my arms. You give yourself completely, which is why you feel a little def
enseless after you come.”
Grant caressed her mound. “We understand that, honey. We love that about you. It’s so sweet. Just let us take care of you afterward. Trust us enough to reach for us when you’re feeling vulnerable as much as you trust us with your passion.”
Barrett wrapped his arms around her as Grant slid his hand from her pants, absorbing her shudder. “I’ve been thinking about you since I left this morning.”
Delighting in her look of surprise, and the feel of her softness against him, Barrett breathed in the soft, sweet scent of her, a scent that still lingered on his pillow. He kissed her shoulder and rubbed her back again, something she seemed to respond to. Hoping to relax her, he kept his voice low. “How does your thigh feel?”
“It’s fine.”
Willing his cock to behave, he settled her more comfortably on his lap and attempted to lighten the atmosphere, hoping to make her feel more secure.
Kissing her hair, he reached for the pad of paper she’d been writing on in an effort to distract her. “What are you planning to fix this week?”
Mason blinked as if he’d lost his mind, but Barrett shot him another look, silently warning him to back off.
Schooling his expression when Kendra turned to glance at him over her shoulder, Barrett met her puzzled gaze with a smile. Feeling a surge of protectiveness, he kept rubbing her back, focusing his attention on the list.
“Make sure you get the stuff you need, and get the foods that you like to snack on.”
Mason leaned forward. “Do you know how to make lasagna?”
Kendra smiled, some of her stiffness easing. “Of course.”
Quinn frowned. “Even I’m getting tired of roasts and chicken in the slow cooker.”
Grant leaned forward. “Please tell me you know how to make chili.”
Kendra giggled, relaxing even more against Barrett’s chest. “I make a great chili. Do you like it hot?”
Grant groaned, closing his eyes. “I swear, I’ll give you a massage that’ll make you melt if you make a big pot of chili.”
Mason grinned. “You know what I’ll do if you make lasagna?”