Covered from head to toe in soap suds, Richard turned to the spray to rinse his face and looked back at her. His long dark eyelashes were wet and spiked together. He grinned and nodded as he reached for her bodywash and bath sponge.
Quietly, Maya watched him as he lathered the sponge with his big hands. It made her hot and wet to think of his soapy hands sliding all over her body.
“Supper is in the oven, and I wanted to spend time with you since you have to leave in the morning.”
Richard caressed her shoulder, massaging her tense muscles. He kissed her and murmured, “I’ll miss you.”
He didn’t go on and on, but the warmth and emotion were there in his words and his eyes.
“Me, too.”
Their slick bodies slid together as he kissed her again. He slid a hand down her back to cup one of her ass cheeks and held her close to him as he tilted his head and deepened their kiss. As she parted her lips, his tongue penetrated and slowly stroked hers, making both her heart and her pussy throb. Richard was an excellent kisser, alternating between stroking her with his tongue and smooching her lips gently. He was going to get whatever he wanted with his kisses because she was putty in his hands.
There was nothing quite as overwhelming, in a positive way, as their hands loving and touching her body all at once. She hoped she never grew accustomed to it. But she also loved and craved the time she spent alone with them. What she needed from Richard when they were alone together was different from what she felt for them as a group. In contrast to his formidable size and strength, what turned her on about Richard was his tenderness and the caring way he had with her, which made her feel immeasurably precious. She appreciated their differences more with each passing day.
Thinking of their little group reminded her of the note tucked into her purse. She was determined to not ruin the mood tonight and decided to give them the note in the morning.
Maya slid her hands up his torso and stroked the short strands of dark brown hair at his nape. The timer was set on the oven. Hopefully Boone or Kendall would hear it if she didn’t return to the kitchen in time.
“Do you have any condoms in the bathroom, Richard?”
“Medicine cabinet,” he murmured against her neck as he brushed his warm lips under her ear.
* * * *
Taking out his bandana to wipe his sweat-soaked brow, Kendall looked around at what he’d accomplished that day. He remembered what the JWB had looked like the day they’d arrived two years before.
The rickety old ranch house had been uninhabitable after sitting unoccupied for thirty-plus years. The fields and pastures that now sported grass ready for baling and herds of Hereford cattle had been left fallow, and mesquite trees had gotten a prolific toehold, even around the house itself. In the last two years they’d done a lot—root-plowing and bulldozing the mesquites, cross-fencing the pastures, purchasing and maintaining breeding stock, and making the house habitable.
It was unfortunate the house had been leveled in the storm, but he didn’t miss it all that much. It hadn’t been near good enough for Maya to live in. With satisfaction at a job well done, he tipped the water bottle and splashed water on his face then took a long drink. He dried his face and grabbed his cell phone as it rang.
He glanced at the number on the screen and chuckled as he answered the phone, “Mom!”
Josie Warner’s familiar, soothing voice responded, “Can someone please tell me why I have to hear that my son is in love from his cousin’s wife? I just got off the phone with Grace and she tells me that Maya Daire has got you wrapped around her finger.”
“Well…” The statement was mostly accurate.
“It’s good to hear that she’s moving on with her life, Kendall. I always wondered after Morgan’s passing if the two of you wouldn’t wind up together.”
“But, Mom, it’s—”
“That it’s the four of you is no big shocker as close as you boys have always been. Grace tells me that Maya fits right in down there.”
Kendall smiled that his mom made that news seem almost run-of-the-mill. “She does.”
“How is the ranch?”
“Hard, hot work but it’s looking good. How is Aggie Rose?”
“Your sister is just fine, from what I can tell. She’s about as good at keeping in touch as you and your bothers. But you know her. She’s an aggie all the way to her maroon blood, still loving Texas A & M. It looks like she’s going to finish early.”
“Yeah, she keeps telling me she’s going to open her veterinary practice in Divine after she gets her degree. I can’t wait, because vet bills are expensive. Did she tell you if she’s coming for a visit here soon?” He thought Maya would adore his spunky little sister Agatha Rose, affectionately known as Aggie Rose.
“With the schedule and hours she’s keeping? I wouldn’t expect to see her until Christmas time. I’ve never seen a more focused student than Aggie.”
“That’s good because I know you were relieved when the three of us barely managed to squeak by with our diplomas in hand.”
“But you’re good boys.”
“When are you coming for a visit?”
She snorted. “When I hear you have space for visitors. How is the house coming?”
“We’ll get started in a few weeks.”
She giggled and speculatively said, “Oh! You’re too busy romancing the beautiful widow?”
Laughing, he replied, “Something like that.”
She turned more serious and asked, “Richard doing okay?”
“He seems to be doing great. Maya has been good for him, I think.”
“I’m happy to hear that. How is my eldest doing?”
“Boone is still working at the Rockin’ C Ranch with Richard. I imagine they’ll both come on fulltime at our ranch sometime next year. He’s crazy about Maya.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Maybe we can all be together at Christmas. Oh, Kendall, that’s another call on the line I’ve been waiting for. I have to let you go, sweetheart. Tell the boys I love them and to call their mother, Okay?”
He responded affirmatively and she made a kissy noise in the phone and ended the call. He drove home and when he pulled up he noticed Ethan standing on his front porch. He greeted Ethan as Boone came out the front door.
“I’m glad you’re here, Kendall. We wanted to give you guys a heads-up.”
“About what?” Boone asked as he leaned against the doorframe. Kendall joined them on the porch.
“Grace got home a few minutes ago. She was a little shook up because someone ran her off the road between Divine and Morehead.” Ethan’s eyebrows were drawn together as he said it, and Kendall could see the stress in the set of his jaw.
“Is she okay?” Kendall couldn’t begin to imagine how that news must have affected Ethan.
“She’s lying down right now. She was having a few contractions here and there, but she’s attributing them to dehydration. I came down to let you know about it. With this damned blog that’s updating daily about the girls, we don’t want to take chances with them or Maya. Has anybody said anything to her?”
Kendall shook his head as he regarded Boone. “Not that we’re aware of. Do you think the incident on the road and the blog are connected?”
Ethan shrugged as he leaned against the porch railing. “I don’t like to take chances where Grace or the others are concerned. We think it would be better to warn the girls and try to be with them if they have to go into town.”
Boone said, “Richard and I are going out of town with Chance and Clayton for a couple of days tomorrow morning, but Kendall will be here with her.”
“Maya told me she was running by the store after she dropped in on Dr. Guthrie this afternoon,” Kendall added.
Ethan smiled faintly. “Yeah, Grace mentioned that to us. She found out Maya has obstetric nursing experience, and I think she’s bound and determined to have Maya working at Dr. Guthrie’s by the time Rose Marie gets here. She really likes Maya.”
/> Kendall chuckled and said, “I think the feeling is mutual. Maya says she feels like she’s known them a long time, especially Grace. Do you want us to send Maya down to check on her?”
Ethan looked up at both of them and appeared to waffle for a moment. “Yeah. If you don’t mind. The contractions worry me a bit. She insists it’s just the little upset plus being too thirsty that’s causing them. I’d understand if you want the night to yourselves, with the two of you going out of town. That delicious aroma tells me she’s got your supper ready.”
Kendall shook his head. “We’ll eat real quick and be up to the house. Knowing Maya, we’ll have to make her stay to eat before going up there.”
“I don’t want that,” Ethan replied. “Eat supper. I know it would help Adam and Jack to worry less about her if someone with experience looked in on her.”
Boone asked, “Was the car damaged?”
“No, not at all. She said it was a black SUV, similar to Jack’s, that ran her off the road. She had a bumpy ride but coasted to a stop in the ditch on the side of the road. That little BMW of hers is a solid little piece of machinery, which is one of the reasons we picked it out for her.”
Ethan departed a minute later and they went inside. Kendall groaned as the succulent aroma permeating the house filled his nostrils and caused his stomach to rumble hungrily. Maya was nowhere in sight. Kendall peeked in the oven and smiled as he saw the source of the aroma. A homemade chicken casserole from the looks of it.
Boone opened a cabinet and was pulling plates down as Kendall checked the timer, which was ticking down with two minutes to go.
“Wonder where they are?” he asked as he searched for potholders in a drawer.
Kendall blessed Grace and Teresa again for setting them up with all the kitchen basics. Everything they’d owned for use in a kitchen, little though it was, now resided in the pile of rubble that used to be their ranch house.
Boone replied, “Richard was taking a shower when Ethan knocked.”
The answer to his other question rang down the hallway as they listened to the melodious sound of Maya crying out in pleasure from the bathroom. Kendall glanced at Boone and couldn’t help the smile crossing his face that probably mirrored the big one on Boone’s face.
“Damn, I love that sound,” Kendall murmured as he opened the oven. His cock swelled as he imagined her in the shower with Richard, trying to catch her breath.
Boone’s voice sounded a little deeper than normal, signaling he must be thinking along the same lines. “For being the soft-spoken one, Richard sure is stepping up and claiming what he wants.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s good. He seems happier.”
“Yeah, happier than I’ve seen him since before…You know.”
The water shut off in the bathroom as the timer went off, and Kendall pulled the baking dish from the oven and put it on the stovetop.
Knowing the other two would be out when they were done, Kendall set the table while Boone finished up his paperwork.
A floral fragrance emanated from the bathroom, along with a languorous sigh. He caught a glimpse of Maya striding naked down the hall to the bedroom. She glanced back and giggled when she caught Richard ogling her from the bathroom doorway and Kendall staring at her from in the kitchen. She blew a kiss and disappeared through the doorway. Richard appeared in the hallway and lifted his chin in relaxed acknowledgement to Kendall before disappearing into the second bedroom where his closet was located.
Kendall looked forward to getting started on house plans sometime soon. He wanted to see Maya in a place of her own that she’d helped them design. They’d been cramped with only two bedrooms. Comically, that was no longer a problem as everyone now willingly slept in the king-size bed with Maya. He’d have to talk to Wes and Evan about a nice big custom bed so they could stretch out a bit and sleep more comfortably.
He was filling glasses with ice a minute later when a scented cloud enveloped him and Maya wrapped her arms around him from behind. Her warm, curvy body felt like home pressed against him as he turned and embraced her from the front. She chuckled and rubbed against the erection that had reappeared at her touch.
“You sounded good earlier,” Kendall murmured before kissing her tenderly on her full lips.
“You’re all spoiling me. I get more attention at every turn than I would’ve thought.”
“Like it?”
“I love it.” She emphasized her words, and his cock twitched against her abdomen at the velvety way she spoke. He could listen to her whispering to him for the rest of his life and be content.
Richard joined them at the table dressed in old, faded jeans and a T-shirt, and Kendall couldn’t help but feel a little envious of the mellow glow in his eyes when he gazed at Maya. It was plain something powerful was growing between the two of them. In his wildest imaginings, he’d honestly never thought beyond fulfilling this dream, to watch her fall in love with the three of them and them with her. The dream itself had seemed so unattainable his mind must not have allowed him to contemplate moments like this because of the sheer torture it would have been for him.
“Ethan came to talk to us, baby,” Boone said as he patted a chair for her to sit in.
She joined them at the table and smiled as Boone served food to her plate. “How was your day? Is everything all right at Grace’s?”
“Ethan wondered if you’d come check her after we eat. She had a little scare today on the way home from the boutique. She’s been having contractions.”
Concern showed in Maya’s eyes and she started eating quickly. Kendall hated seeing the remnant of the languorous glow fade from her eyes, but was proud of how down to business she got when someone needed her help. That was his girl.
Boone and Kendall explained what Ethan had told them, and they discussed their concerns as they ate with haste. Fifteen minutes later, they were knocking on the back door of the ranch house.
Chapter Eighteen
Grace sighed when she heard Maya’s concerned voice in the hallway outside her upstairs bedroom. She lay propped up on pillows on her gigantic bed, snuggled up with Ethan, who was gently stroking her cheek. While they were talking downstairs earlier, a contraction strong enough to make her wince had convinced him she needed to lie down. She didn’t like worrying him, so she had complied. Emma Guthrie had already reassured her that the baby was well-cushioned in her abdomen and it would take more than a little jostling to change that.
Except for the fact that what she’d experienced on the road had been more than a case of reckless driving, she might not have said anything about the incident. The SUV had dogged her tail for several minutes, pulling close then pulling into the oncoming traffic lane beside her and staying in her mirror’s blind spot so she had to keep looking back for it. Close to Divine the vehicle had finally passed her and cut her off, narrowly missing her front bumper. She’d been shaking all over and experiencing small contractions by the time she made it to the ranch. The moment she’d walked in the door, Jack, Ethan, and Adam had taken one look and descended on her with concern.
She hadn’t had a contraction for thirty minutes and wasn’t very worried, but she understood Jack, Ethan, and Adam still needed the reassurance of someone laying hands on her.
Ethan stroked her baby bump, and Rose Marie responded with a tiny kick against his hand. He grinned and tears prickled her eyes at the glowing love in his blue gaze. It was a direct contrast to the ferocious anger all three of them had to fight to control as she’d told them about her experience. They’d all three looked ready to hunt the person responsible down and beat them to a pulp.
“Thanks for humoring us, Gracie. Maya probably would’ve come anyway, whether we’d asked or not, once she heard what happened.”
“I know. I just didn’t want her evening interrupted. It’s so soon for Richard and Boone to have to go out of town.”
“Kendall didn’t seem too worried about it,” Ethan said with a chuckle.
Grac
e giggled and said, “Well of course he didn’t. He gets all the ‘one-on-one’ he wants two nights in a row. He’s probably counting the hours till he’s got her alone.” Grace snorted, thinking how much Kendall reminded her of Jack. That man would be putting her over his shoulder and carrying her up to the bedroom before the other two were even fully out of the door.
She heard Adam’s voice and then a tap at the door. Slipping from the bed, Ethan opened the door and Maya Daire entered the room. Grace couldn’t help but feel happy she was there.
Ethan joined Adam in the hallway, and they closed the door, leaving her alone with Grace.
Grace raised a hand with a shrug from the comfort of her piled-up pillows and said, “Overprotective daddies-to-be. What are you gonna do?”
Maya sat on the bed and gently palpated Grace’s abdomen, smiling when Rose Marie kicked at her hand. She took Grace’s pulse as she gazed at her watch and asked a host of questions about other symptoms.
Maya looked around Grace’s mistress suite, as her men were fond of calling it, and said, “Grace, this is incredible! They did all this especially for you, didn’t they?”
“Yes. They started work shortly after I agreed to marry them, two years ago.” Grace looked around the palatial suite with fresh, appreciative eyes as she told Maya about it, pointing out the art they’d added in those years and the updates they’d recently completed in the bathroom.
When Grace had voiced the random thought that a water birth at home might be nice, the men had ripped out the perfectly lovely, big whirlpool tub in her bathroom and replaced it with an even larger one in an equally lovely shade of rosy pink. She hadn’t said that was something she definitely wanted to do, but they’d done it for her, just in case.
“I hope you’re working at Emma’s office by the time Rose Marie is ready to be born. It would be wonderful for you to be in attendance at her birth.”
“It would be my pleasure. I hope it works out. Dr. Guthrie seems like the kind of doctor I’d enjoy working for.”
“Not to mention gorgeous. I’ve tried to set her up on a date or two, but she keeps giving me excuses.”
Rainier, Heather - Maya's Triple Dare [Divine Creek Ranch 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 17