Chapter 22
“Do you want any more?” Warren ran a hand down her back.
“No, thanks. That was good, but if I eat any more right now, I might get heartburn.”
“It is a little late to be having dinner,” Edward said.
Carol looked at the clock. Nine thirty at night was late for dinner but they’d been making love, and then napping, for most of the afternoon.
Any time she had a choice between eating food and being naked with these men, it was not the kitchen she would be choosing. Well, unless they wanted to play buffet restaurant and lay her out naked on the table, of course.
“I’d love to know what thought just went sailing through your head,” Warren said. “Your temperature went up at least a whole degree and I see your nipples have pebbled beneath the cotton of my shirt.”
“I’ll tell you all about it…later.”
She had no doubt that if she told them that little fantasy they’d play it out, the same as they had Stranded Maiden. But at the moment she liked where they were and what they were doing. There was just something nearly perfect about this. Nothing could beat sitting with her men, eating a simple meal of heated leftovers, and wearing nothing but Warren’s shirt just hours after saying “yes” to their proposal of marriage.
That he held her tenderly on his lap while he and Edward took turns feeding her was sweet beyond words.
Edward moved his chair closer to them, and Warren helped her turn and Edward scooped her legs onto his knees. He gently rubbed her feet, stroking up her legs, and just made her feel good.
Head nestled on Warren’s shoulder, she sighed with contentment. “I wish I could legally marry you both.”
“In our eyes, we’ll both be your husbands, sweetheart, equally.” Warren nuzzled the side of her face.
“Actually, beautiful, the commitment ceremony that we’ll have here in Lusty is far more important to us than the legal wedding that takes place the night before.”
“That was one of my first experiences, here in Lusty, do you know that? It was the Friday before the spa was to open, and I attended Carrie, Chase, and Brian’s ceremony with Tasha and Ari and Chloe. I remember thinking it was the most beautiful wedding I’d ever attended.” She tilted her head up, lifting her lips to Warren, delighted when he kissed her. Then she smiled when he helped her sit forward so she could kiss Edward, too.
“I really am ready to visit my parents. I’ll have to ask Chloe for another day off, so maybe we should put it off for a week, although I hate to, now that I’ve decided to go and do it. But I think we need at least two days, because it’s a long drive and I’d like us to visit for a bit. I should call them first.”
“About that,” Warren said.
She knew both men were pleased she wanted to mend her relationship with her family. The tone of regret in Warren’s voice now made her sit up and turn her attention to him.
“Is there a problem?”
“Not a problem, sweetheart, so much as a bit of a complication with regard to the timing. The entire fire department staff is on standby, because of the possibility of severe weather to the south and east of us.”
“Standby?”
“Lusty has mutual-aid pacts with some of the other communities in this end of Texas. When there are severe weather conditions, it means we head there and help where we can if they need us.”
“Oh! I saw the weather on the television this morning when I first came downstairs. They’re worried about straight-line winds and even tornadoes between here and Austin in the next couple of days.”
“They’re hoping the storms are finished going through the area by the weekend, but until then, we’re on call,” Edward said.
“Not to mention if there is a need for our help we could be several days away from home, helping to dig people out or patch people up,” Warren said.
“Well, then we’ll just wait for these storms to blow out and then I’ll call my folks to see about going to visit them.”
“You don’t mind?”
Here Carol could see a remnant of the shy, uncertain man who’d first caught her attention. She understood now that despite their outward appearance and mannerisms, she’d seen the men they were underneath. Some part of the basic woman in her had recognized not only her mates, but that they were far from the passive milquetoasts others had presumed them to be. But she thought she understood how others had perceived them that way. There was a side to them both that was a little bit shy and uncertain.
So she said, “What I mind is that if those storms turn into more, if they become dangerous, then people will be hurt. Some may lose their homes, or even their lives. That, I mind. The fact that the two of you are dedicated to being first responders gives me nothing but pride.”
Warren and Edward had the most beautiful smiles she’d ever seen. They gave them to her now, along with the sweetest hug.
“You’re a hell of a woman, Carol Ashwood. You know that?”
“Well I’m glad you think so.” She leaned her head against Warren’s chest, one hand stroking him while her feet caressed over Edward’s lap—especially the bulge that was growing harder and bigger beneath the front of his pants. “Now that dinner’s over, why don’t we go back to bed?”
“Hmm, why don’t we?” Edward picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “You’ve had a busy afternoon, because the two greedy bastards who are in love with you had at you voraciously.”
Carol giggled. “I loved every minute of it.”
“We know you did,” Warren said. “But now we’re going to see to it you get a full night’s rest. We want you fully recovered before you head off to work tomorrow.”
“Well, pooh.”
Both men chuckled. Then Edward said, “Don’t fret, beautiful. We’re only just starting out, the three of us. We have a lot of long, lusty nights—and afternoons and mornings—in our future.”
“But for now, we’re going to take you upstairs,” Warren said. “Shower, hot tub, and then we’ll tuck you into our bed—to sleep.”
“You’re so bossy,” Carol said. For good measure she made certain her lower lip stuck out in what she hoped was a cute, and convincing pout.
“Yeah, I am, and you love that about me.”
“Well, yeah, I do. But still…”
“But still, we’re going to take care of you, baby,” Edward said.
“Okay.” Carol knew when to quit arguing, because these two men never gave ground. Then she ducked her head so they couldn’t see her grin.
She bet by the time they were leaving the hot tub, she’d have them so randy they’d take her again, just the way she liked it.
* * * *
“We have reports of several tornados touching down in parts of Fayette and Travis Counties,” Grant said. “They’ve got personnel hitting the ground now in the larger cities. They want us to take this line here, along this corridor, and the dozen of rural communities that may have been hit.”
“Any reports of fatalities?” Warren asked.
“Not so far, but the storms are still rolling through. By the time we get down there and report in, and get our grid assignments, we’re likely going to be working in the dark.”
“So we’ll need some of the volunteers to run the lights for us.”
“Steven and Chase”—Grant nodded to the two Benedict cousins in the back of the room—“have volunteered to man the generator truck. We’ll have to bring the fuel tanker with us, too. Brian said he’s up for driving that—he’s getting it filled up right now. We’ll bring a couple of the older students with us, as well.”
“It’ll be a good exercise for Trace Langley,” Warren said. “That boy has some chops on him.”
“I’ve already spoken to his mother,” Andrew said. “She’s given her permission for him to go with y’all. He should be arriving any moment.” Andrew would be staying back with the pumper truck, and the rest of the volunteers, so as not to leave the town unprotected.
Warren felt a br
ief sense of pride when he thought about how well equipped his town was—and the fact that, more often than not, that equipment aided neighboring communities. He was also proud as hell of the way the town had embraced the Langley family.
Jolene Langley had been widowed nearly three years before when her husband, serving in the US Army, had been killed in Afghanistan. She’d hired on as a clerk at Darryl’s Duds, and seemed to enjoy working in retail. She and her three children had originally rented the apartment over the store, but it hadn’t taken Grandma Kate long to see to it the family was installed in a nice house, instead, over by the school.
Warren brought his attention back to the map that Grant was using. They’d leave within the hour, heading southeast, and report in to one of the relief coordinators in Fayette County.
He didn’t mind that they were being used this time to help in the outlying regions. Rural communities could be just as hard hit as the more populated urban areas. Despite jokes that she hated trailer parks, Mother Nature really didn’t discriminate between urban, suburban, and rural. She was an equal opportunity bitch.
The sparser population, of course, usually meant fewer injuries, but there could still be damage and devastation just the same.
In the aftermath of a tornado or straight-line winds, the damages wouldn’t add up to the big bucks of the loss estimates in larger communities, but it would be the same emotional ordeal for the people living, and sometimes working, in the area.
Warren had seen generations-old farms and ranches reduced to nothing but debris and animal corpses. He’d seen farms lose entire fields—not just the crops in them but a great deal of the top soil, too.
There really was no such thing as an “insignificant loss” when it came to Mother Nature’s fury.
“This isn’t our first dance,” Grant said. “So once we report to the relief coordinator, be prepared to be teamed with less experienced volunteers. Some of these people won’t have much in the way of emergency preparedness and response training, but they’re there to help. Use them. Any questions?”
Theirs was a relatively small department, and there weren’t really any questions.
“Okay, Kelsey has thermoses of coffee and bags of sandwiches for everyone. Grab your food and your gear. We roll out in twenty minutes.”
A sense of urgency spurred them on to make quick work of their preparations. This was what he and his brother had trained for. This was why they’d chosen this work.
To respond when the need was greatest, when their presence and expertise would make a difference, this was the core of them, of what they stood for and really, Warren thought, why Lusty itself had been founded all those years before.
Once he and Ed were certain the truck was ready, they headed over toward Kelsey to get their food.
“Hey, cousin, thanks for this.” Warren grabbed a thermos and a bag of sandwiches. He’d bet there’d be a tart or two inside, too, because Tracy was back working part time at Lusty Appetites.
“You’re welcome. Just take care of yourselves out there, okay?”
“We will,” Ed said. Then he grinned. “We’re professionals. And Steven has been a volunteer with the department for a long time. He’s gone out on a couple of these calls before.”
Kelsey nodded. “I know. And he’ll be manning the generator, which isn’t dangerous.” Then she shrugged. “But I also know if the need arises, he’ll be wading into the thick of things, whether it’s to rescue a person, or an animal.”
Warren was used to the way people reacted to him and his brother, and the way they treated them. He’d liked Kelsey the first time he’d met her, when she’d come to town and opened up her restaurant. When she’d married his cousins, that liking had turned to the kind of love he held for all of his family.
He knew she worried, and he also knew she had a history of loss. It was that history that nibbled at her now. No matter how well someone dealt with past trauma, it could always pull a fast one and come calling, bringing back the fear and helplessness.
Following his instincts, he reached out and patted her arm. “You know Steven well. But would you have him be any other way, really?”
She met his gaze and he read surprise in hers.
“No, I guess I wouldn’t.”
“Just as you wouldn’t have Matt stop being a lawman, because you know how important that is to him.” Warren gave her a very small smile. “And neither of them would ask you to be a stay-at-home mom, even after that asshole with a gun tried to make Swiss cheese out of you a couple of years back.”
Kelsey laughed, and it gratified him to see her smile, and to see the easing of tension on her face.
“You’re right, of course.” She tilted her head to one side. “And I just realized that Robert is right about you.” She looked from him to Ed, and back. “I wonder whether it’s a case of our having misjudged you or if it’s a result of your misleading us.”
Warren met her gaze, and erased the teasing smile from his face. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, cousin.”
“No, of course you don’t.” She shook her head. “You’re as Alpha as the rest of them, Warren Jessop. You’re just better at hiding it than they are.”
He looked up and saw Steven standing slightly back, a grin on his face. That cousin just shook his head, and then went over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her.
“Hey, Stevie, no fair trying to wheedle extra food by smooching the cook,” Brian Benedict called out.
“It’s not extra food,” Steven shot back. “It’s fringe benefits.”
Warren and Ed both chuckled, and then they turned to head toward the van—and saw Carol waiting for them. She stood next to their vehicle, a soft smile on her face.
“Hey, this is nice.” Warren had hoped to be able to see her before they headed out, but he’d known she was still working.
“When you called and said you’d be leaving within the hour, I had to come and kiss you both good-bye.”
“Now that’s what I call a fringe benefit,” Ed said. He opened his arms and Carol walked right into them. Warren stowed their thermoses and food, and set his personal protective gear on the back jump seat.
He saw a small container on the floor under the seat and pulled it out.
“I don’t know how she knew, but your mother dropped those off at the spa just before you called. She said if I could, I should bring them over to you.”
“Brownies.” Ed whispered the word. He reached out and took the box from him. “And the container is still warm.”
“Hide those,” Warren said. “Brian will sniff them out in a heartbeat. It’s just a good thing the premier addict of all things sweet in this family isn’t here at the moment.”
Ed nodded. “If Henry Kendall were around, these little morsels would already have been reduced to a fond memory—his fond memory.”
Warren turned his attention to their woman. “Come here, you.” She smiled, that sweet, cheeky, trying-to-get-her-way-around-him smile that she used when she knew she was in trouble.
“Hi there, handsome.” Carol wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed close.
Warren slid his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer. She raised up on her toes to give him a kiss and he said, “You are so getting spanked when we get home for that little bit of naughtiness last night.”
“But you liked it.”
No, I fucking loved it. “You pushed us beyond where you should have. Again. You need discipline, woman.”
“Does it count as discipline if I get wet when you’re telling me you’re going to discipline me?”
Warren resisted the urge to smile. The next sixty or so years were looking pretty damn good from where he was standing.
“We’ll table this discussion until we get home, sweetheart. But you should know we’ve ordered a few new things for you from an online specialty shop. Now, kiss me like you mean it.”
Her gaze met his and he could have sworn he could melt into her pretty blue eyes
. He hated leaving her, even though he was eager to help out his fellow Texans. He pushed aside the strange sense of foreboding, and scolded himself for letting his emotions make him crazy.
Then her mouth opened under his and he plundered. Her tongue, so sweet and sexy and shy, seduced his, and he drank her in. She fired his blood and moved his heart and he believed with everything that was in him this passion he and his brother shared with her would be theirs forever.
“Come on, Romeo, head ’em up and move ’em out.”
Warren eased his lips from Carol’s and looked over at Andrew. “Don’t nag me, Alice. I’m kissing my woman good-bye.”
“It looked more like ‘hello, and let’s go party’ than ‘good-bye’ to me,” Andrew said.
Carol laughed, even as she blushed. Warren guessed it would take her a while to feel completely at ease with the large, rambling and often cheeky family that made up the town of Lusty.
She gave him one more very brief and chaste kiss. “I’ll see you both when you get back. Stay safe.”
“We’ll call you,” Warren said.
“That would be wonderful.”
Warren waited one more moment, watching as Carol walked over to where Kelsey and Chloe stood. Andrew joined the women, and Warren knew a part of him likely wished he was coming, too.
Someone had to stay behind, and this time, that someone was Andrew Jessop.
“Feels kind of weird, leaving Carol. I almost hate to.” Ed shook his head, then turned his gaze on Warren.
“I think it’s because we made it official last night,” Warren said. “We’ll call it ‘new fiancé jitters.’”
“That makes sense.”
“It does. Let’s go.”
He got into the driver’s side of the van and buckled up. Ed fastened his seat belt and then checked the radio and the GPS, even though they were all headed, together, to the same location.
Warren waited while Grant led the way in the rescue vehicle. He signaled for Brad to pull in behind the boss. Warren joined the procession, and checked his rearview mirror as Steven, driving the truck that held the generator and lights, pulled in next, with Brian bringing up the rear in the tanker.
Love Under Two Responders [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 22