The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 3

by Heather Rainier

  Quietly, Richard nodded as he picked up a loofah body scrubber thingy and put it in the basket. “We’re all three so different, Boone. You don’t think that might be overwhelming for her?”

  Boone picked out a multipack of electric toothbrushes, dropped them in the basket, and shrugged, replying, “We give her plenty of space in the beginning and allow her to get used to us. I’ve never had the impression she was the easily overwhelmed type.”

  Boone and Richard had met Maya and Morgan when Kendall was in college with them, and Boone had always been impressed with her naughty wit and easygoing, soft-spoken manner.

  Certain that Richard’s main worry was his sheer size and imposing presence, Boone said, “Maya’s not the flighty type. She’s never seemed intimidated by either of us when we’ve been around her.”

  “Yeah, but it was under different circumstances. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable around me.”

  Richard was tallest of them at six feet, six inches, topping both Boone and Kendall by three inches. Richard was by no means ugly, but his size was fairly intimidating. The moustache and beard he was currently growing added to that aura, and he had unusual pale blue eyes that Boone knew some people found disconcerting.

  “I think you’re jumping to conclusions. Let’s not borrow trouble, okay? Just give it a chance.”

  So he wouldn’t be overheard, Richard muttered, “I also have to worry about my lack of experience where threesomes are concerned. I know you two made quite a reputation for yourselves when we were on the road. The bunnies trailed after you in every town, fighting for the chance to be the filling in a cowboy sandwich.”

  Boone chuckled and threw a package of bejeweled hair doo-dads in the basket as he whispered, “Can you handle vaginal and oral sex?” At Richard’s eye roll he continued. “Have you had anal sex before?”

  “A couple times, yeah.” Richard looked a little like he didn’t want to contemplate the thought, but they had to get it out in the open.

  “Then you can handle a ménage. Just go very slow and watch us for cues if you need to. You had a stellar reputation with the bunnies, too, by the way. That’s the reason I know it’ll be fine. You were raised right and know how to take good care of a woman.”

  “But I’m not doing any of that crazy, kinky stuff you like to do.”

  “What if she likes it, though?” That thought was pure fantasy for him. It had been a while since he’d delivered an erotic spanking. He missed that part of his former life.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do what feels right to you. If the opportunity presents itself, ask her what she likes.” Damn, all this sex talk and thinking about Maya was getting him hard.

  “Fine, but I’m not getting my hopes up yet,” Richard said, picking up a box of chocolates and placing it in the basket as they made their way to the cashier. “Those are for her, not you, butthead.”

  “But you’re not getting your hopes up,” Boone said sarcastically.

  Chapter Four

  Kendall listened with satisfaction to the sound of Frank Reeves’s tires as he peeled out in front of Maya’s house.

  “That was not fun,” Maya muttered as she entered the kitchen and took a glass from the cabinet and filled it from the tap.

  Kendall rose from his seat and went to her as she drank her water. He stroked her hips and asked, “You feel up to making the trip tonight?”

  Maya gazed up at him, and her blue eyes took on a naughty gleam. “Yes. I’d rather spend what’s left of the night in your bed instead of mine.”

  Kendall barely caught his jaw before it popped open. He’d known her long enough that he was used to her saying whatever sexy thing came to mind, but he’d never been on the receiving end quite like this before. She stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat as she looked him up and down, pausing at his groin and the bulge growing there. He’d missed that sexy, crooked grin and liked being on the receiving end of it very much.

  “Now how am I supposed to drive three hours with you sitting next to me saying tempting things like that?” Normally, he was pretty good with a comeback. At the moment he was surprised he could put intelligent words together.

  She met his gaze again and said, “Let me pack and we can get on the road. I’ll do my best to be a good girl.”

  “Okay.”

  As she left the room, he slipped his phone out and quickly typed.

  “Forget about fixing the second bedroom for Maya. Put the girlie stuff in my bathroom. We’ll be on our way in less than an hour.”

  Boone’s reply came back quickly. “Hell yeah! Good going, hotshot!”

  Fifteen minutes later, Maya was ready to leave.

  * * * *

  Frank Reeves pounded his steering wheel furiously as he drove away from Maya’s house. Everything had been going well until that hick son of a bitch Kendall Warner had shown up. Frank was making amazing progress with Maya and had been ready to move forward with his plan that night. She’d been ignoring his calls and not answering his text messages trying to play hard to get. But he could see right through her act.

  Maya wanted to feel like she hadn’t given in to his charm and appeal too early because she was a widow. She’d needed to feign purity a little longer, but Frank had seen the interest burning in her eyes the other night before she’d stopped his advances. Frank was ready to make her his, and Warner had fucked up his plan.

  Tonight she’d claimed he was moving too fast and she thought they should stop seeing each other. Fucking prick tease. Warner had obviously influenced her. It had taken all his self-control not to go out to the glove box, get his pistol, and shoot the damned redneck. The only reason he’d left peaceably was because she’d told him Warner was leaving as well. He’d return in the morning, and they’d cut through all the hard-to-get bullshit.

  “Son of a bitch!” he shouted in rage, beating the heel of his hand mercilessly on the steering wheel of his Jaguar.

  He looked over at the minivan pulled up to the stoplight next to him. The couple in the front seat observed him warily. The light turned green, and he flipped them the bird as he hit the accelerator, squealing the tires on the damp asphalt before finding traction. He shot across the intersection and headed toward home.

  Frank needed to press his advantage while he still had one. She was right where he wanted her, and he needed to keep it that way, at least for a while. He had to get a ring on her finger and the massive zeroes in her bank account transferred into his. He had debts and very menacing debt collectors to pay. He also needed the key to that fucking safe-deposit box Morgan had kept. The contents of that box would make his life one big breeze.

  It had been pure luck that he’d encountered Morgan’s attorney at an exclusive restaurant in Austin. Knowing he and Morgan were partners and that Frank was dating Maya, the chump had mentioned the by-chance finding of the safe-deposit key to him. The items he’d unsuccessfully searched her house and home safe for must be in that safe-deposit box. Maya didn’t know that he had a house key and knew her security password for the alarm.

  After promising to pass on his greetings to Maya, Frank had gloated for the rest of the afternoon. Once he had the contents of that safe-deposit box he’d be happy. He could fuck her until he got tired of her then off her when she became a nuisance, just like Morgan.

  * * * *

  Maya fought drowsiness as the pickup truck ate up miles and miles of Interstate Highway 10. When her head bobbed for the third time, Kendall chuckled and reached into the back seat and pulled out a thick, fluffy flannel jacket and balled it into a pillow.

  “Want to lean over and rest your head on the console? There’s no point in us both losing sleep.”

  “You don’t want me to help you stay awake?”

  “No. I’m doing great. If you’re sleepy, don’t fight it.”

  If Kendall only knew what all she was fighting at the moment, what would he think? She’d seen his reaction to her words in the kitchen and had frankly enjoyed it, but she d
idn’t want him to be uncomfortable on the long drive, and so she’d kept her impure thoughts to herself.

  She laid her head down on the voluminous jacket, enjoying the scent of man permeating the thick flannel. It didn’t smell like Kendall.

  She stroked the flannel, which she could tell was red by the lights of the dashboard. “Whose jacket is this?”

  “Richard’s. It should be fairly clean. Is it all right?”

  Richard, who was so tall and quiet with pale blue eyes that fascinated her.

  “Yes. I was just wondering. It doesn’t smell like you.”

  She turned her nose against the fabric and inhaled again. It smelled faintly of laundry detergent, manly musk, and the outdoors. She liked it, and noticed her body liked it, too.

  Pondering her reaction to the unfamiliar scent, she wondered at the way she was wired. Though deeply in love with Morgan and happily committed to him, she’d always felt a loving, deep connection to Kendall. Morgan was witty, professional, and dominant, where Kendall was all outdoors, earthy, and playfully sexy. Loving them both would’ve been incredible. She’d always had a resounding need for the differences which made them unique.

  But being one of the top real estate brokers in the Texas hill country area made Morgan much too visible and vulnerable to public opinion. For that reason she’d never asked.

  Now, here she was, reacting to another man’s scent. What did that say about her?

  She closed her eyes as Kendall stroked her long hair and caressed her cheekbone. His touch sent tremors through her, and a note of sadness for what could never be echoed in her heart, followed by the refrain of Morgan’s words in the letter. Be the daring girl I married…have the life you wanted and didn’t dare ask for.

  Kendall’s voice in the quiet of the cab plucked at her heartstrings. “I wish I’d known.”

  Her heart clenched and a tear leaked from her eye, but for the first time in a long time it didn’t feel like grief. It felt more like longing. She’d had days in the last year where she thought she’d never laugh or smile ever again. Somehow that tear marked the beginning of a new chapter between them.

  “I wish I could’ve asked. I imagine you must be wondering what kind of woman I am,” she murmured, voicing her real fear.

  “I know what kind of woman you are, Maya. You’re the kind who has enough love in her heart for more than one man. I happen to like that about you. Do you think it’s possible you could feel that way again?”

  Except for the fact she’d reacted to Richard’s scent on the jacket, she might’ve been surprised by his question. Maybe it was just the way she was put together, to want more than one man loving her and to be capable of loving more than one man with all her heart.

  “I’d have to give it some thought, but yeah, I suppose it’s possible. Why?” She looked up at him in the dim light and saw the slight smile on his lips. “Boone and Richard?”

  He looked down at her, stroked her temple, and replied, “Maybe. Yeah. But we have plenty of time to mull that over.”

  * * * *

  Maya awoke to the sensation of Kendall’s warm hand rubbing her upper arm. She glanced at the clock on the dash and saw it was almost four in the morning.

  “We’re here,” Kendall said as he continued touching her. She glanced out the window into the darkness and couldn’t tell much about “here” beyond the light shining on the front porch of the ranch house. “We’ll tuck you into bed as soon as we get inside.”

  Maya was wide-awake now, with images shimmering in her mind of what tucking her into bed entailed. She stretched and Kendall climbed from the truck and came around to open her door and help her down. She loved his old-fashioned manners, a trait he’d had in common with Morgan.

  He lifted her luggage from the bed of the pickup truck and escorted her up the stairs. Stepping quietly, hoping they weren’t disturbing his brothers, she followed behind him expecting the house to be dark inside. A dim light was on over the stove in the kitchen, and two big men were sitting with coffee cups at the dining room table.

  “Hey. You’re awake,” Kendall said.

  Maya looked around the cozy, low-lit interior of the ranch house’s front rooms. The spacious living room did, indeed, have two comfortable-looking couches situated in front of a fireplace. The house was tidy and well cared for, judging by what she could see. She admired a man who was willing to clean up after himself.

  “Yeah. We couldn’t sleep. Finally gave up a little while ago and put the coffee on,” Boone said as he and Richard rose from the table. Both were already dressed for work.

  Boone’s sensual lips turned up in a smile as he opened his arms. “Hey, Maya. Welcome home.” His husky tone had a touch of sexiness to it that made her nerve endings fire up and take notice. She went happily into his arms and they hugged for a few seconds. His chest was a solid, deliciously-scented wall of heat against her cheek, and his well-defined muscles rippled under her hands as he stroked her back. Boone had grown a beard and moustache, and his sandy-brown hair was shorter than it was the last time they saw each other. His dark brown eyes twinkled as he said, “We’re glad you decided to come, Maya.”

  “Thank you, Boone. I’m so happy to see you both.”

  Boone released her, and she turned to Richard, who had always been a bit of a puzzle to her. The moment felt strangely discombobulated to her. All their circumstances had changed since the last time she’d seen either of them.

  She knew both Boone and Richard had come with Kendall to Morgan’s funeral, but she’d been in too much of a fog to really recall their presence. The last time she’d seen Richard he’d been in love and planning to propose to the woman he thought he’d spend his life with. They had grief over the death of a loved one in common.

  Maya could recall feeling intimidated by Richard’s size and absolute masculinity when she’d met him several years before. He had pale blue eyes which seemed to look right through to the depths of her soul. He had a habit of making direct eye contact and keeping it, which she found a little disconcerting, though she knew that wasn’t his intention. His handsome, tanned features were rugged with a square jaw and a chiseled nose. His brows were dark brown, like his short hair and well-groomed beard, and were arched over his haunting eyes.

  The smile on his face was tentative but genuine, his eyes slightly hooded as if he were trying to put her at ease while at the same time appearing a little unsure of himself. Her heart went out to him, and she reached for him and hugged him hard. A tremor went through his chest muscles, and she heard him catch his breath. The same manly scent from the jacket in the truck enveloped her, and she held on tight, probably longer than she should, knowing something had just shifted between the three of them.

  A slow, muted sigh escaped her lips as a sensation akin to relief washed through her. She was surprised by the lethargy that followed quickly on its heels. She released Richard and looked up at the three of them, all standing so close to her. She was struck by the rightness of the moment, and she smiled, feeling content.

  “Look at those sleepy blue eyes,” Boone commented, reaching out to stroke her shoulder. “We’re putting you to bed.”

  Again with the comments about the three of them putting her to bed. She’d let them put her to bed, all right. Just as long as she wasn’t alone. She really did feel sleepy again, so she nodded.

  Maya wondered if Kendall was going out to the JWB or if he was going to go to bed for a few hours, too.

  Answering her unvoiced question, Boone said, “We got a few hours of sleep, so we’ll go by the ranch and check on everything and get the morning chores done before we go out to the Rockin’ C. That way you can get a few hours of shut-eye.”

  Kendall acknowledged Boone’s offer with a nod. “Thanks. I think I’ll take you up on that.”

  Maya said, “I could do with a nap. I hope you didn’t go to much trouble. I don’t want anyone giving up their bed for me, so you can put my things in Kendall’s room.”

  The unspoken
communication between the men was not lost on Maya. The look of approval in Boone’s and Richard’s eyes might’ve made any other woman nervous. It had the opposite effect on her. She felt safer here with them than she had in a year.

  “It was no trouble at all, Maya,” Richard said as he lifted her garment bag and overnight case. She followed him back to the rear bedroom and happily discovered this room also had a fireplace. She thought how romantic it would be in the wintertime.

  “This is Kendall’s room, and we put some things for you in the bathroom, if you need them,” Richard said as he hung the garment bag in the closet.

  Grinning, Maya turned to Kendall and asked, “You’re the middle child. How did you swing claiming the master bedroom?”

  Kendall chuckled as he placed her suitcase by the closet. “I whipped their asses in poker, that’s how.”

  Richard grumbled good-naturedly. “I still think he cheated.”

  They bantered with each other for a few moments, and Maya had the impression they were trying to set her at ease. In the dim light cast by the lamp on the bedside table, Maya looked up at the three of them. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to lay in that big king-size bed, surrounded by these handsome men, cozy and well-loved. A pool of hot moisture seeping through her swelling pussy lips was the answer to that thought.

  Boone’s hands were reassuring on her shoulders as he kissed her cheek, very near her lips, and said, “Rest, Maya. We’ll see you later this afternoon. We left our cell numbers on the kitchen counter. Call us if you need anything.”

  He retreated to the doorway, and Richard took his place. Her heart surged in her chest as he tilted her chin and looked into her eyes. Richard was hard to read, but she thought she saw hesitancy in the way his brows knit together over his eyes.