Kansas Flame [Kansas Heat 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jenny Penn

  “Thomas? Sally? You in here?”

  “Of course I’m in here,” Thomas hollered back, not even having the decency to pull his dick free of the man’s aunt before answering. Neither did he have the decorum not to do it while he was answering. “And I’m kind of in the middle of something, so if you could give a man a moment.”

  Sally bit back a groan as Thomas wrenched himself free of her still clinging depths. He helped her straighten up and tucked her between two large stacks of hay. It took him only seconds to right his own clothing. Offering her an apologetic smile and a considerably softer tone, he left her with one simple assurance.

  “I’m going to kick that boy’s ass.”

  With that, Thomas dropped a quick kiss on her nose and turned to leave. Jarred out of the pleasure that had consumed her only seconds ago, Sally recalled just why she’d come to the shed in the first place. She caught Thomas by the arm as he turned to strut away, bringing him to a sharp stop as he cast a quick look in her direction.

  “Lindsay’s back.”

  “Thomas? Where you at?”

  “I’ll fucking be there in a goddamn moment!”

  Sally flinched but didn’t censure him over his language. She didn’t have to. Always a gentleman, he apologized for his loss of control.

  “Sorry, Sally.”

  “We need to keep Nicholas busy and away from that girl.” Keeping her voice low and knowing time was of the essence, she got straight to the point.

  “Oh, God,” Thomas groaned, looking more horrified by the second. “You’re going to meddle, aren’t you?”

  “Thomas? You talking to somebody?” Nicholas sounded closer, his voice clearer. That didn’t faze Thomas any more than his question did.

  “I told you! I’m on the damn phone,” Thomas snapped, ripping his cell phone off his hip and flipping it open. “Could you give me a damn moment, or do I need to knock some respect into you?”

  “Fine,” Nicholas retorted, sounding more amused than concerned. “I’ll wait.”

  Thomas rolled his eyes as he turned his glare back on Sally. “And you, no meddling. Trust me. This situation is already messed up. Nothing good can come from it.”

  “So you’re not going to help me?” Ignoring his dire warning, Sally refused to be deterred.

  “Nope.”

  “Well, will you at least tell me where Andrew is?”

  “Out rounding up the herd.”

  Meaning he’d be back late. Before Sally could ask any more questions, Nicholas called out again, sounding way too close for comfort. Thomas shot her a suffering look and took off, cussing out her nephew as he herded Nicholas away from where Sally lingered in the shadows.

  She ignored both men, her mind spinning as she tried to think of something to keep Nicholas busy long enough for Andrew to return and rescue Lindsay.

  * * * *

  Cooper knew two seconds after he opened the back door that his bad day was only about to get worse. It was late. He was sore, and nothing on the ranch smelled worse than him. All he dreamed of was a hot dinner, an even hotter shower, and a comfortable bed to pass out in.

  Despite the misery, Cooper welcomed the weariness. Maybe this time, maybe tonight, he’d finally be tired enough to get to sleep. It had been three nights since Lindsay left and three night since Cooper had gotten any rest. He spent the past three days obsessively wondering if she’d returned and all three nights sitting on her step waiting for her to return. Even when exhaustion finally forced him to bed, all Cooper did was dream of her. She’d become like a sickness.

  That’s when he realized he had to put an end to this. Instead of wasting his time waiting on her front step, Cooper had worked himself to the bone and well into the night. Now that he was finally ready to take a break, Sally greeted with a less than cheerful reception.

  “Is your cell phone broken?” She snapped that question at him before Cooper even managed to make it through the door. “You can’t check your messages? Or is it just you don’t want to? Did Thomas warn you that I was looking for you? I told that man not to say a word and if he did—”

  “Sally!” Cooper held his hands out begging for mercy. “Please, let me get my shoes off before you start nagging me.”

  “Fine. Take your time.”

  Sulking back into the kitchen, she started slamming things about, remaining pointedly silent. Cooper slumped down onto the bench by the back door and began tugging at his laces. He knew he’d offended her by raising his voice and cutting her off and knew that only an apology would set things straight.

  “I’m sorry, Sally.” Trying to keep the yawn out of his voice, Cooper rose off the bench and ambled into the kitchen feeling like an old and broken man. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just been a very tiring day and right now all I care about is my empty stomach and my aching muscles. I would kill for a taste of whatever smells so good in here.”

  “Then don’t let me keep you waiting.”

  Sally flashed him a smile that held as little warmth as her tone did, assuring Cooper that his apology had not been accepted. She was still pissed. It showed in her every motion, from the way she slid a bowl heaped full of steaming chili across the counter to the way she waved him toward an island stool as she fished out a spoon and fork.

  “I wouldn’t want to be your second victim,” Sally muttered as she slid the utensils across the counter.

  Cooper didn’t have a clue what she meant but recognized her tone for what it was—an attempt to bait him. A good nephew would give in and ask the obvious question but Cooper was too tired to be a good nephew. Besides, Sally could never keep anything to herself. Whatever was bugging her, she’d blab eventually.

  Digging into his chili, Cooper focused on his dinner. The silence stretched out between them, growing heavy with tension as Sally cleaned the kitchen. Her motions grew more agitated as she slammed things about and scrubbed with too much might. It became clear that she didn’t intend to speak until spoken to. As much as Cooper hated to give in to that kind of intimidation, he couldn’t stomach the weight of his guilt any longer.

  “Okay, fine!” Cooper dropped his fork into his bowl and held his hands up. “I give in. Who is my first victim?”

  “As if I don’t know anything,” Sally grumbled to herself, not bothering to answer Cooper as she continued on working herself into a fit. “As if I don’t have ears or eyes to hear and see things with. I swear you boys just think I’m stupid. Don’t you? Well? Don’t you?”

  Pulling to a stop directly across from Cooper, Sally stiffened straight up as she waited for his answer with her hands balled up on her hips. There was only one right answer, and there wasn’t any good that would come out of keeping her waiting.

  “No, Aunt Sally. I don’t think you’re stupid.” Meeting her gaze, Cooper told her the truth. Sally wasn’t stupid. He was for having started this conversation. In hindsight, the silence was better.

  “Don’t patronize me, Andrew,” Sally snapped, not the slightest bit appeased by his quick denial. “I’ve heard all about the little games you and your buddies are playing with our new neighbor, and I—”

  Lindsay. She was talking about Lindsay, a subject Cooper wished to close. He’d had an epiphany earlier and come to realize that his lust was causing him to believe he held affection for the woman. Or perhaps it was the other way. Maybe he only wanted Lindsay because he liked her. That would explain why all the other men seemed to think she was plain. Everybody, that was, but for Nick. Or maybe that’s what had him so interested in the girl—competition with his brother.

  The reason didn’t matter. A hard dick and a soft heart were a prescription for doom. No doubt the condition would turn permanent if he did something completely crazy, like taking a dip in Lindsay’s tight little honey pot. God but she had the slickest cunt he’d ever felt clamped around his fingers. She’d been so damn tight.

  A virgin.

  The very idea had him hardening despite the exhaustion pulling on his muscles. Not
that his dick gave two shits about how tired he was. It just wanted to burrow into Lindsay’s clinging warmth and feel the perfection of having her clamp down around him. Once he had her sheath pulsing, trying to milk the very release from his balls, that’s when Cooper would explain a few things, like who was in charge of her comings and her goings, because he did not like being left in the lurch.

  “Andrew Cooper!” Sally slapped an angry hand down on the counter, making Cooper start and focus on her for the moment. “I am lecturing you here and I would appreciate it if you’d pay attention!”

  “Sorry, Sally.”

  “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

  If Cooper lied and said ‘yes,’ she’d only ask what she’d said and he’d be caught as a liar when he couldn’t answer. That left him with very little choice but to hang his head and admit the truth.

  “No. But,” Cooper spoke up when it looked like Sally was about to interrupt him, “if this is about Lindsay Howell, then I don’t want to hear it.”

  “What?” Sally blinked, clearly thrown by his comment. “What do you mean you don’t want to hear it?”

  “I mean what I say. I called the guys and told them they will have to negotiate with Lindsay directly over the water rights and I talked to Nick and told him I won’t object to him chasing after her and now I’m out.”

  Cooper intended to stay that way. That meant staying the hell away from Lindsay Howell. Far, far away. Hopefully, with enough time, he might even be able to stop thinking about her.

  “Well, that’s just great.” Sally threw her hands up and turned away from him as if she couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore. Of course her curiosity was greater than her disgust and within a second she was turning back around to demand answers. “And when did this change of heart happen?”

  “Well—”

  “No. I don’t care.” Sally cut off Cooper’s explanation before he could get more than one word out. “It doesn’t matter. Nicholas is not on this planet to clean up your messes.”

  “My messes? My messes!” Cooper gaped, unable to believe his ears. “What messes?”

  “You answer me honestly, Andrew. Did you set it up so Lindsay Howell can’t get anybody out to work on Elton’s old cabin?”

  “No!”

  “Andrew.”

  “I never—”

  Sally’s head tilted in a look that spoke volumes. Cooper was on thin ice and he didn’t want to know what waited beneath it.

  “Okay, maybe before Lindsay ever got to town, me and some of the guys were sitting around talking about way to…make Lindsay feel less than welcome.” Cooper could feel the ice cracking beneath his feet as Sally’s expression froze over. He was in trouble but there was no going back now. “The idea might have come up that if we all banded together and…refused her…services…I’m sorry, Sally.”

  “Don’t be wasting your breath on giving me your apology,” Sally rejected him out of hand as she waved him off toward the mudroom. “Go on and get your boots back on and go over to that girl’s house and apologize to her yourself.”

  “She’s not home, Sally.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  Cooper froze, his heart skipping beat as Sally’s words sank in. Lindsay was back. He wondered if Nick knew. If that was why his brother wasn’t around. Nick could already be over there. He could already be doing—

  “I don’t care.” Cooper cut off his own wayward thoughts before they could heat his blood any further. Whatever Nick was doing, whoever he was doing it with, Cooper didn’t care.

  “Andrew—”

  “No!” Shoving back from the counter, he refused to engage in this conversation any longer. “I don’t care, Sally. I told you, I’m done. I’m over it. I’m going upstairs to get a shower. Then I’m going to bed. A peaceful night’s sleep—that’s all I care about.”

  Issuing that statement, he turned on his heel and marched toward the stairs. Sally let him get halfway up before she started muttering to herself in a tone more than loud enough for him to hear.

  “I’m surrounded by idiots and I don’t know which one is worse, my stubborn nephew or my crazy neighbor who bought her own generator and is going to install it all by herself. The thing has to weigh two tons, at least, but I’m sure those cheap ramps she bought will hold. The wenches should, too, but then there are the wooden platforms. I wonder if she finished building them yet—”

  “I don’t care,” Cooper yelled back down the stairs, cutting Sally off before she could go any further. He’d already heard more than he wanted to. “Good-night, Sally.”

  * * * *

  Sally didn’t look up from stacking the dishes into the dishwasher when Andrew came storming back down the stairs not two seconds after disappearing up them. She didn’t even smile as he stormed straight to the back door muttering about crazy being contagious and how they were all infected. Andrew could grumble all he liked just as long as he got over there and saved his future missus and all the babies Sally expected to help raise.

  Soon, very soon, she’d have a house full of children to help mind. Just the thought of all the summer days tending boo-boos and oopsies and winter nights spent helping with homework was enough to bring a smile to Sally’s face even if she had a sink full of pans waiting to be scrubbed.

  Her good mood dimmed a few minutes later when she heard Nicholas coming in the back door.

  “Evening, Sally.” Nicholas stomped his feet on the welcome mat before stepping over the threshold. “I hope you got some of that pie left because I sure am hungry.”

  “You know if you want pie you have to get it while it’s hot. There is no second chance in this house,” Sally tossed over her shoulder, pausing only long enough to hit start on the dishwasher before looking up to greet her nephew. “You’re home early.”

  “Eh.” Nicholas waved away that observation as he slumped down onto the mudroom’s bench seat to begin tugging on his boots. “The Pitchfork has gotten to be such a meat market. It’s too loud and too cramped, gives a man a headache.”

  “Really?” Sally blinked, finding herself surprised yet again by one of her nephews. “I thought you liked those kinds of places.”

  “I guess it was a phase.” Nicholas shrugged as he bent over to undo his boot’s laces.

  Sally glared at the back of Nicholas’s head, annoyed that her plan hadn’t worked, especially given that it sounded like it should have. Nicholas appeared ready to settle down. Now that he had left the marines, he could follow that inclination, which was just why she’d tried to set him up with the perfect girl for him—Molly Madison. Something had apparently gone awry, though, because despite Nick’s beliefs, the Pitchfork wasn’t normally crowded.

  “So it was busy down there, huh?”

  “It was like Ladies’ Night but without the free beer.” Nicholas stretched as he came shambling into the kitchen.

  “That’s weird.”

  “Yeah. I think Chet and the boys called in all the ladies as some kind of intervention for Cooper but he didn’t show. There really is no pie, huh?” Bent over with his head buried in the refrigerator, Nicholas shoved things all around as he searched for something sweet. “What about some pudding? Or maybe you have ice cream?”

  “Get out of my refrigerator,” Sally snapped, pushing away her concerns over her failed plans.

  It didn’t matter now, not when she had to worry about Nicholas finding out about Lindsay. Guilt weighted heavy on Sally’s shoulders as she showed her nephew back around the island.

  “Just go sit down and I’ll fix you a snack. Okay?”

  “Fine, but I don’t want no apples or anything that’s good for me,” Nicholas warned her. “I worked hard today. I deserve sugar.”

  “I might have some cookies hidden around here,” Sally offered. “I could even whip you up some chocolate milk.”

  “Chocolate milk?” Nicholas split into a big grin as he slid onto one of the island stools. “Either I did something right…or you’re feeling really
guilty about something.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  “Oh, Aunt Sally, you’re blushing.” Nicholas laughed as heat flooded her cheeks. “You might as well go on and fess up. You gave my pie to Cooper, didn’t you?”

  “Along with a heaping helping of whipped cream,” Sally shot back, playing into Nicholas’s joke and just glad he didn’t realize how close to right he was.

  “I knew he was your favorite,” Nicholas huffed without any real heat. Glancing around as Sally pulled a cookie jar out of its hiding place behind the soup cans, he finally asked the question she’d been dreading. “Speaking of big brother, where is he?”

  “Huh? Oh. I don’t know.” But Sally did know she flubbed that response. She could all but feel Nicholas’s gaze narrowing in on her and tried for the best distraction she knew. “Hey, look, double-chocolate-chunk cookies. Your favorite.”

  “You know me so well,” Nicholas retorted, most of his attention focused on digging cookies out of the jar Sally set in front of him.

  “I can tell.” Sally sighed as crumbs began gathering on her clean counter.

  Instead of bothering to chastise him, she simply handed him a plate as she pulled down two glasses from the cupboard. Nicholas offered her an apologetic grin, figuring out the direction of her thoughts. He made her wince, though, when he scrapped the crumbs into his palm and dumped him down his throat. The boy still had some rough edges, ones the military hadn’t helped smooth out, but maybe Molly could.

  “You like those cookies?”

  “They rock!” Nicholas nodded before proving the point by shoving a whole one into his mouth.

  “I think Molly Madison gave me the recipe,” Sally mentioned, trying to sound casual as she pulled out the milk along with the chocolate syrup.

  “Who?” Holding a hand in front of his mouth to keep pieces of cookie from falling out, Nicholas kept on chewing while he talked.

  “Molly Madison,” Sally repeated. It took all her self-control not to correct him. The strain showed in her voice but she plodded determinately forward. “You remember, she’s the cute blonde with the curls…from church…I introduced you to her. None of this rings a bell?”