Acres, Natalie - Sex Drive [Country Roads 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Natalie Acres

  “What are you talking about?” Luke asked. “We didn’t discuss this.”

  Mrs. Carpenter shrugged. “I’ve got some things I have to take care of, and Lucy, I guess you’re gonna have to look out for my boys. These two are grown men, but they ain’t used to taking care of themselves. You may have to teach them how to do a load of laundry and cook ’em dinner every now and again.” With a jovial spirit, Mrs. Carpenter reached behind her back and untied her apron.

  “You can’t be serious,” Luke said, apparently at a loss.

  “Oh, but I am,” Mrs. Carpenter reassured him. “Lucy has been the first woman to walk in here in I don’t know how long. I intend to take advantage of this. Sorry about your luck, child.”

  Rex squirmed. Instead of arguing with Mrs. Carpenter or correcting her again, he said, “You know what, you’re right. You need a vacation. You haven’t had one in a good number of years.

  “Luke, go get the checkbook and pay Mrs. Carpenter. I’m going upstairs and see if I can’t find this sweet little angel her toys. When I get back, we’ll talk about that dessert none of us want to miss. Assuming, of course, Mrs. Carpenter has already left us to entertain our sweet and pure little angel.”

  Lucy balked at that. What she’d give to show Luke and Rex just what she’d learned in a short period of time.

  “I can’t get out of here fast enough,” Mrs. Carpenter said, winking at Lucy. “You and I will catch up when I get back from my break. What do you think?”

  Lucy took a bite of broccoli casserole and observed. This was planned to a fault. That’s what she thought. Lucy should’ve been a nervous wreck. Instead, she was very excited. Why wouldn’t she be? She knew damn good and well what toys she’d left there.

  Much to her surprise, she couldn’t wait to use them again. She hoped the batteries were fresh and the McDavid men were horny. Considering their past history together? The odds were in her favor.

  Chapter Five

  Luke returned with a check in hand, hoping Mrs. Carpenter was intuitive enough to realize this was one time she couldn’t offer a quick solution to the damage they’d caused. In matters of skinned shins, Mrs. Carpenter was a pro, but this was different. They weren’t talking scratches and bruises. They’d broken Lucy’s heart, and mending the holes they’d left there would take some time, not to mention tender loving care.

  Luke stood just inside the enclosed porch watching Lucy as she slowly turned scrapbook pages. “This is from the Saltville Horse Show,” she said. “I think it was the summer of ’97.”

  “You’re right,” Mrs. Carpenter said, tapping her finger on a laminated page. “I remember that July well. Rex had a new sports car, and we couldn’t keep him in the saddle. He wanted to cruise and pick up women.”

  “Imagine that,” Lucy muttered.

  Luke peered over her shoulder, and she flipped to the center of the book. The next picture was one he remembered well. It was the day before his twenty-first birthday, and Lucy refused him a drink of alcohol but offered him a kiss instead. He’d declined, pissed because she wouldn’t give in and pour him a drink of liquor. He lost out in the end, just as the black-and-white snapshot portrayed.

  His brother earned the smooch and the shot of whiskey. Luke never wondered which tasted better.

  The next image was another priceless moment. He was about fourteen, which meant Lucy would’ve been fifteen and Rex would’ve been around eighteen. They were posing next to a solid black Shetland pony. Lucy traced the photo as if she were trying to remember something. Suddenly, she looked up. “What was it we said about Luke and Shetland ponies?”

  “I don’t recall,” Mrs. Carpenter replied, staring at the check Luke passed her way.

  Lucy grinned, acknowledged Rex’s reentry by a wave of her finger, and said, “I bet he remembers.”

  “Yep,” he replied, smirking. “I sure do.”

  * * * *

  Lucy closed one eye, as if that alone would restore her memory. “Wait a minute. I know what it was.” She studied the picture again. “We teased Luke and called him the Shetland pony. He was the shortest fellow in our group, but he had this larger-than-life personality. He may have been little, but he always stood out in a crowd.”

  “You know why, too,” Luke remarked, his carnal tone deliberate.

  Rex laughed. “Don’t get carried away there, little brother. They nicknamed you ‘the Shetland pony’ because you were always ready to give free rides, but after a buck or two, the gals lost interest and you copped a bad attitude.”

  “That wasn’t true. He picked up the nickname long before he had his way with the ladies,” Lucy said.

  “I had a reason to have a chip on my shoulder,” Luke said, frowning. “My brother ran off with my girl.”

  “You should’ve known he’d bring me back,” Lucy told him.

  “Nothing in life is certain,” Luke said. “In love and war, we all fly by the seat of our pants.”

  “Oh quit your whining, boy,” Mrs. Carpenter said. “At least Rex had the good decency to share.”

  Laughter filled the room, and Mrs. Carpenter grabbed a bright-orange cardigan draped over a nearby wicker chair. “Lucy, I’ve got to get out of here while the getting is good. When I return from vacation, I hope to see you.”

  “I’ll be around.”

  “I think so, too,” Mrs. Carpenter said. Turning to the McDavid brothers, she added, “If you need anything, call, but you’d better not bother me unless it’s life or death.”

  With those parting words, she slid a kiss on each of their cheeks and disappeared down the hall. After a quiet moment turned into an uncomfortable silence filled with heated, desire-filled gazes exchanged, Rex said, “You’d better hurry up and finish eating. I have a little something planned for entertainment this evening.”

  * * * *

  Lucy wasn’t going there. She didn’t care how much she’d missed them. She didn’t care how much she still loved them. She wasn’t taking up old habits. No way. She was just coming to terms with old feelings again. The last thing she needed was to bounce up those front steps and race them to the showers.

  After dinner ended, Rex helped her from her chair and held out his arm. “Let’s take a walk.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. Ah, hell. Who was she trying to fool? She might as well lose her skirt now.

  “Rex McDavid, you must think I’m crazy. If I let you lead the way, you’ll steer me toward your bedroom.”

  “And you’d be what?” Luke asked. “Ready to put up a fight?”

  “I’m not going to bed with you,” Lucy said firmly. “Either of you.”

  Rex tilted his head toward the dining room. “I wouldn’t be so certain about that if I were you.”

  Lucy felt a chill of excitement in the air. Rather than choke on a thread of jealousy, she shivered when Rex implied he would escort her to the dining room. Delicious events once occurred in that room, carnal activities she hadn’t been permitted to enjoy.

  No, she hadn’t been the recipient of such erotic pleasures, but she’d wanted to be. She still remembered how it felt to stand there at the window, watching and waiting, practically hoping Luke and Rex would see her. She was certain if they had, they would’ve asked her to join them. And then what?

  She shook her head. She couldn’t think about it. She’d heard the rumors, listened to the tales. Luke and Rex liked two on one, but on occasion, they’d added another woman. Lucy liked to play, but she didn’t swing that way. Still, there was something about watching the McDavids with Marilyn that excited her, and since she’d loved them at the time, the distorted feelings she’d experienced profoundly confused her.

  The activities she’d witnessed there that day left her breathless, made her realize what she wanted most in the world, and that’s why she ran. Envy didn’t guide her as they must’ve suspected. Desire wounded her, made her realize she’d never be complete until she mastered the art of restrained loving and learned to unmask the characters she’d watched Marilyn r
eveal.

  Lucy was scared. She was frightened then and terrified now. Until that day, she’d actually thought Rex was a dark rogue of a man, a hardened cowboy no woman in her right mind would ever tame.

  Yet she loved him. She loved him then. She loved him more than ever with each passing day. And Luke wasn’t shortchanged. She worshiped the ground he walked on, too.

  She longed to experience their uninhibited side, and recognizing that need damn near destroyed her five years ago. It wouldn’t now. She was older, wiser, and more sophisticated.

  She was ready.

  Lucy wanted the raw men, the untamed cowboys, the McDavid rebels every woman in the county had seemingly grown to adore. Lucy needed to claim the dominant men who were said to love their women and love them well.

  Luke took Lucy by the hand and gave her fingers a tight squeeze. Leaning against her, he whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, Lucy. We’re not in any hurry tonight.”

  An electric current of pure lust shot up her arm. His touch was like fire and his voice, pure fuel to the flame.

  Rex’s eyes followed hers as she looked beyond where he stood and focused on that large piece of massive furniture, now quite intimidating since Lucy realized what the night held in store. “This is what you want.”

  Rex wasn’t one to ask. He was the kind of cowboy who took the reins, jumped in the saddle, and yelled “giddy up.”

  “You couldn’t possibly understand what I want or need,” Lucy remarked, her pussy clenching as she thought of the passion awaiting them.

  “I saw you that night. You watched us. I remember your eyes, Lucy. The lust and longing existed there, overshadowing the resentment and betrayal.”

  “You knew I was here?” she asked, realizing her voice cracked. “Then why—”

  “What could I do?” Rex asked, interrupting her.

  “You could’ve stopped,” she suggested quietly, halting just inches outside the double French doors leading to the dining room. “You should’ve told her you didn’t care about her. You should’ve told her you were falling in love with me!”

  “Well then,” Luke said. “Maybe you should’ve barged right in and told that gal she shouldn’t have been shooting whiskey with your fellas. We can all point fingers here, but why bother? It’s the past, Lucy, and the fact is, none of us were ready for a commitment. Hell, you were already talking about leavin’ town.”

  “I should’ve done a lot of things, but Luke’s right. There were other ways you could’ve handled yourself as well.”

  “What did you expect me to do? Rush in and threaten her? Beat her ass for touching yours?”

  Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. “That would’ve been the best solution. If you think about it, if you’d joined us, we might have moved on from there.”

  Instead, years had passed. They’d aged. Lovers had come and gone. Time was lost and insignificant memories were made while knowledge was gained. They’d met other people who perhaps impacted their lives, but hardly shaped them.

  “You never would’ve looked at me the same way again,” Lucy whispered. “And I wouldn’t have been able to forgive you for putting me in that situation.”

  Rex cupped her cheek and kissed her lips, his mouth barely brushing past hers. “Lucy, you would’ve been welcome. You can always join us.”

  Lucy blinked. Was he serious? Was he trying to seduce her while offering her a standing invitation to visit his bed anytime, regardless of who occupied the space beside him? She looked away from Rex and focused on Luke. “Is that really what the two of you want and expect?”

  “I didn’t see you that night, Lucy,” Luke said, answering a question she would’ve eventually asked.

  Her gaze sliced through Rex. She wondered then if Rex would ever change. She’d known pain that day, a dull ache that eventually went away, but something else happened, too.

  She’d discovered desire like never before. The passing years did nothing to sate the longing. If anything, her cravings intensified.

  Chapter Six

  From the moment Luke first saw her again, he knew. It was like anticipating a storm and bracing for high winds or damaging hail. The first raindrop would soon fall, and once the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled, it was hard to predict when nature’s wrath would end.

  Lucy was ready to play by their rules. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. Maybe she hadn’t planned this. He knew she hadn’t. But one way or the other, she was going to their bed, and she’d probably stay once she’d found her place there again.

  How long she’d remain was the real question. Lucy had a promising career, a bright future. Did she love them enough to make room for them in her busy life?

  Rex drew the curtains. Luke turned the lights down low. She stood right inside the doorway with her hands loosely clasped in front of her body, watching them with wide eyes full of hope.

  “Can I fix you a drink?” Luke offered.

  “She doesn’t drink,” Rex reminded him.

  “Actually, I’d love a scotch on the rocks.”

  “You’re not drinking a man’s drink,” Rex told her.

  “Then I’m not going to a man’s bed,” she stated firmly.

  “We’ll see about that,” Rex said, his hands running across the first of many shirt buttons. His gaze held hers, and he stalked her, taking one step at a time as he pursued her. His white shirt was open, and he toyed with his belt buckle, deliberately working his fingers over the shiny, brass piece in an obvious effort to make her look.

  Luke walked over to the bar. “She can have a drink. We’re celebrating tonight.”

  “She drinks alcohol and she goes home,” Rex said, coming to a complete halt and taking an authoritative tone, the Dom from within surfacing in record time and commanding respect. Luke wondered if Lucy could handle the Rex she’d never experienced.

  He was colder now, brash. Rex had always been dedicated to the lifestyle, mostly through role play, but he was on the search for something more. He’d confided in Luke many times. He wanted a submissive woman willing to abide by his rules. And he’d waited for one woman in particular.

  Lucy cocked her head and pursed her lips. She was thinking about her options. After some thoughtful consideration, she said, “I’ll take a bottle of water.”

  Rex grinned. He collected an easy win.

  This time.

  “That’s our girl,” Rex said, satisfied.

  Luke grabbed three water bottles, tossed one to Rex, and set another one in front of Lucy. Taking a seat on the edge of the dining room table, he quietly observed her, appreciating her shape, each curve. “So what do you do in Dallas?”

  “Are we making small talk now, Luke?”

  “I’m interested,” he said, admiring the new and improved Lucy, the woman who only became prettier as she aged.

  Her mouth twitched. “Since when?”

  “I care,” he replied, wondering why she’d even question his interest.

  “Hmm,” she said. “And here I thought I was coming home to strangers, to men who’d forgotten all about me.”

  Rex stalked her again. This time his pace quickened and his jaw set. “You left us. We never walked out on you.”

  “I had a job to do,” she said, backing up a few steps. “Grandfather invested a lot of money in stock cars. He wanted to build the largest racing team in the world.

  “My cousins were running through the money. No one could manage the team. Grandfather had a lot of dreams for Mason Malone’s High Performance Group. MMHPG was the only company he owned to ever bear his name. Then after he got sick, he went downhill, and it became clear to me, he wouldn’t live forever. He wasn’t able to head up a new company, and I didn’t want him to die unsuccessful.

  “If our racing investments hadn’t been profitable, he would’ve viewed that as a personal failure. I had no other choice. I stepped in as CEO, turned a profit, and here I am today.”

  Luke understood her train of thought. At the same time, she never v
isited. While Mr. Malone used to tell Mrs. Carpenter when he’d spoken to Lucy, she’d never bothered calling the McDavid phones. She disappeared and other than the old man, never checked on those she left behind.

  Rex closed the distance between them. She inched away from him until her hips landed against the formal table. Placing his palms flat against the glossy surface on either side of her body, he leaned toward her. “You chose a career over family.”

  “You weren’t promising a white wedding, candlelight dinners, and a storybook ending.”

  “You weren’t asking for one, best I remember,” Rex reminded her.

  Luke cleared his throat, more of a diversion than anything else. He wanted to talk to Lucy, find out how she spent her free time and ask questions—how many lovers had she had, what did she do on weekends, how many lovers had she had, what did she do late at night when loneliness set in, something he knew a lot about. “How many lovers have you had?”

  Rex jerked, and Lucy paled.

  “Are you really asking me that?”

  “Are you really asking her that?” Rex asked, averting his gaze and then staring at Lucy once again. “Answer the question.”

  Lucy dropped her jaw. “Are you serious?”

  “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

  Lucy grunted, slid away from the table, darted under Rex’s arm, and shot toward the door. “You really have some nerve.” She couldn’t decide which brother she wanted to scold first, or at least that’s how it appeared with her gaze bouncing back and forth between men. “You haven’t seen me in five years. Five years! Do you know how long that is?”

  “Sixty months?” Luke asked, being a smart-ass.

  “Yes. Damn it. Yes. That’s not just a few days ago. That’s a lifetime. Some folks finance cars for five years, and by the time they pay the damn thing off, they don’t even want the same make and model anymore!”

  “Surely you don’t expect us to believe you’re sporting around a newer model,” Rex said, uncertainty thick in his voice.