“No, baby. Lie still. I’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of us both.”
He sank into her in one bold stroke, going deep, impossibly deep. A sound of humming pleasure came out of Kelsey’s throat. She spread her knees just a little more so that she was completely open to him, offering him everything.
“Christ, you feel so good. So hot and wet and tight around my cock.”
“I love having you inside me,” Kelsey said. “Harder.”
She couldn’t say another word. Matthew began thrusting inside her with a force that shook the bed and drove her higher. The tip of his cock pushed against her cervix, and the twinge of pain that caused wrapped around the lust, making her nipples tingle and her clit throb. She loved the climb, the burn and the pinch, the racing heart and heating blood. She loved the sensation of being horny, of being so hot her body began to feel desperate to come.
“Oh, please.” Kelsey knew she could beg and that begging would never be used against her. When Matthew responded by slowing his thrusts, by tempering them so he didn’t drive as deep, she whimpered.
“Do you want to come, baby?”
“Yes. Please. Make me come.”
“Mmm. I love the feel of your pussy clenching around my cock as your orgasm takes you. Of course, I love the way it feels when you squeeze me, too. Do that for me now, baby. Squeeze my cock with those wonderful muscles of yours.”
Kelsey squeezed him, the long-ago learned Kegel exercises making Matthew sound nearly as desperate as she.
Matthew responded by resuming his hot and heavy rhythm. Kelsey gripped his cock, tightening all her inner muscles, holding him and holding off the pending explosion.
“Give it to me, baby. Come on my cock.”
Oh, God. The shivers and tingles wouldn’t stay where she kept them, wouldn’t stay down and small. They surged, out of control. Crying out, Kelsey pushed back against Matthew as the explosion shattered her control. She came with such fierce convulsions she could see stars behind her eyes, every nerve ending in her body sizzling as if she’d been hit by lightning.
“Yeah. Oh, Kelsey, yes.” Matthew’s orgasm took him as he held himself deep. One arm slipped under her and around her, pulling her into him. The sensation of his ejaculation into the condom against her cervix made her own climax spike again. She squealed, a high-pitched sound of pleasure so sharp, she wondered she could make such a sound.
The heat of his body against her back as he held himself just off her became a wonderful blanket. His heavy gasps for breath tickled her ear. She focused on breathing.
“Did I hurt you, sweetheart?”
“Nuh.” She didn’t have a hope of forming a coherent word, let alone a sentence. Matthew’s kissed her shoulder then left his face nestled there, and she felt him smile.
“So, I fucked you senseless, did I?”
“Mmm.” She smiled, too, and in that moment, she felt that nothing bad could happen, nothing could touch her, because this man and his brother loved her.
“Ah, that scene reminds me of this morning.”
At the sound of Steven’s voice, Kelsey turned her head to the side and opened her eyes. Steven stood at the doorway, a smile on his face.
“Did you feel like a train wreck after loving her, too?” Matthew asked his brother.
“Hell, yes. No woman has ever taken me apart and put me back together again the way our Kelsey does.”
Matthew kissed her neck, then slid off her, claiming the right side of the bed as he had every night they’d slept together.
Kelsey eased onto her back so she could better watch Steven as he moved around the room.
“Benny is clean and tucked into his bed. I read him one story, and he fell asleep before I was done.” Steven checked that the volume of the monitor had been turned up, then came over to the bed. He dropped his clothes in a heap on the floor, Kelsey had noticed he tended to do this but always picked them up the next morning, then slid into bed on her left.
“How are you feeling?” Steven turned to face her and propped his head up on his right hand. Like his brother had, he gently traced the bruise on her shoulder, then moved down to the smaller ones on her hip.
She decided not to sugarcoat her answer. “Still a bit sore, but not as bad as when I woke up before dinner.”
“Might be really sore tomorrow,” Matthew cautioned.
“Yes, I know. There is just one more thing, though. Under the heading of how I feel.”
“What?”
Both men asked that at once. Kelsey fought back a smile. She lay on her back with the Benedict brothers now half propped up over her, one on each side. The perfect position, she thought, for seeing both their expressions at the same time.
“I love you.” She looked at each of them in turn. “I love you both. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it or what our future is yet. But I do love you.”
Their smiles reminded her of lilies in bloom, and Kelsey felt love unfurling in her heart, warming every bit of her.
“It’s about damn time,” Matthew grumbled. When he kissed her, the caress was gentle.
“You can say that again,” Steven echoed. He kissed her just as gently, and then they both just grinned like fools.
“That’s the first step, baby. We both sure as hell love you,” Steven said.
“Let’s just take things one day at a time,” Matthew said.
Kelsey wondered then if they didn’t know her better than she knew herself. She’d said she had no idea what the future held for them, but the men didn’t seem to have any doubts at all.
* * * *
Connors had known there was a good reason he’d left his fledgling career in larceny behind. Being a crook was just too damn nerve-wracking, not to mention the fact that he wasn’t really very good at it. At least he hadn’t been today.
When he heard the siren and seen that cop car come over that hill in his rearview mirror, he’d nearly shit his pants. He had his gun in one hand and the door handle in the other. Instead of moving on the Madison woman, though, he slammed the car back into drive and floored it. Of course, the cop had to stop and see if anyone was hurt first, but cops had radios. He hadn’t stopped shaking until he’d been back in his own vehicle and headed for home.
Connors drove aimlessly through the streets of Austin. He stopped for an early dinner at a burger joint, and by the time he finished his fries and cola, had nearly gotten his cool back. He’d pulled over at a service station in Waco and removed the disguise he’d worn for the morning’s adventure. No one had noticed him going into the washroom wearing a cap and moustache and coming out without them. He ditched both items there, shoving them deep into the trash can.
He hadn’t planned to run the woman off the road. That had been an act of opportunity. When he’d seen her car hit the tree, he figured it was a good sign. It would have been easier to put a bullet in her head while she was unconscious.
The gun was a holdover from his life of crime, a Glock he’d gotten from a friend of a friend that could never be traced to him. After doing what he had to do to protect the new life he’d built for himself, he’d planned to dump the gun in the Brazos River.
Connors ran a hand through his hair. He had no idea how badly the woman had been hurt, and he had no fucking idea what the hell he was going to do now.
It was nearly nine. Cora Lynn would be calling soon. He’d check the local news stations and cruise the web. Somewhere there would be a report on the woman’s accident, especially if they’d put out an APB on the Taurus.
Thank God he’d been smart enough to steal a car.
He hit the remote for his garage as he neared his house. The neighborhood was as quiet as it usually was on a Monday evening. There was a nice mix of ages here. Some of his neighbors were retired, some newlyweds. Of course they all knew him. Connors was the neighborhood go-to man if anyone needed help with anything. He’d cultivated that persona here at home and at work in the real estate office.
He turned off th
e car, locked it, and headed into the house. He immediately heard voices and realized the television was on in his den. He didn’t think he’d left the thing on, but he might have.
His mind still on Kelsey Madison and his problem, he walked down the hall and then froze at the door to his den. Sherman Fremont sat in his recliner.
“There you are, Connors. You get points for eluding the police. But you really should have come to me with this problem rather than trying to handle it yourself.”
“Mr. Fremont.”
“Come in, Connors. Make yourself at home.” Sherman Fremont laughed at his joke, but the man who stood behind him giving a good imitation of a gorilla didn’t laugh.
“I don’t understand—”
“I told you I liked the looks of you, and I meant it. And you may not understand right now, but you will, that this is one of the things I liked about you. I knew about this particular skeleton in your closet.
“It doesn’t always take money to buy a politician, Connors. Come and sit down. I’m about to buy you. Johnson, here, will help you with the Madison woman.”
Chapter 18
“It’ll likely be a couple of days before we hear anything back from the Waco P.D.,” Matthew said.
“Let’s hope that s.o.b. left behind enough evidence that you can find him,” Steven said.
“Yeah, I’m hoping,” Matthew agreed.
Steven got up to bring the coffee pot to the kitchen table. Kelsey looked as if she was lost in thought, and Matthew looked as if he wanted to spit nails.
I can’t blame him.
Steven felt just as helpless at the moment.
The need to protect Kelsey surged through his veins. He wanted to punch someone very badly. It was hard to fight an enemy he couldn’t see.
“How are you feeling this morning, sweetheart?” he asked Kelsey. He’d gotten up just before dawn, leaving the bed to get his morning chores done while his lover and his brother still slept. Then he’d come into the house to find breakfast ready to be served and Benny ready to chatter. The little guy had plowed through his morning meal and now played quietly.
“I’m a little stiff and sore, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” She blinked and looked over at him. “Don’t worry. I’m not going into the restaurant today even though I don’t feel as bad as I anticipated.”
The sound of toy trucks crashing into each other came from the sitting room. Steven could look over top of the kitchen counter and see the Benny’s head. He understood now why his mother had insisted on an “open concept” for the main living areas of kitchen and parlor when his parents renovated this house. It was nice to be able to see what the boy was doing without having to keep getting up to do so.
“You’ll want to go in tomorrow, though,” Matthew said. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing Steven and I would like better than to lock you up somewhere and keep you safe. We know we can’t do that.”
Kelsey tilted her head to the side and looked at Matt and then at him. “What do I need to do so that the two of you won’t get sick worrying about me?”
“You just did it,” Steven said. Thinking about her past, he leaned forward and kissed her. Then he chose his words carefully. “When you love someone, you’re always hostage to their fortune. It goes with the territory. We know you take our concerns seriously. That has to be enough. The rest is our problem.”
The phone rang, and Steven got up to answer it.
“Hi, Mom. We’re just finishing breakfast.”
“I thought I’d come over around lunch time and spend a bit of time with Benny,” his mother said. “Get in some grandma practice and give you and Kelsey a chance to have some time to yourselves. I know how challenging it can be to suddenly have a child there when you’re not used to children.”
“That would be great, Mom. See you when you get here.”
“I knew Mom would take every opportunity to spend time with him,” Matthew said when Steven came back to the table.
Steven laughed. Since Kelsey looked confused, he said, “Mom has been dropping not-so-subtle-hints for the last couple of years that she wants a lot of grandchildren.”
“She’ll make a wonderful granny. She was so great with Benny yesterday,” Kelsey said. “I think they both just clicked right from the first moment. Love at first sight.”
“I think they did, too. So when Mom gets here, do you want to go riding?”
Kelsey grinned. “I haven’t been riding for several years. I’m probably rusty, but yeah, I’d like to.”
“I have a mare that I use for some of the less experienced riders in the family. She’s pretty gentle, really.”
A cell phone rang, and Matthew pulled the device off his belt and looked at the call display before answering.
“Hey, Adam. I was finishing breakfast and then—” Matthew stopped talking, and Steven could see by the expression on his brother’s face that something had happened.
“Okay, I’ll head out from here and pick you up. No sense in our taking two cars. Just give me five.” Matthew closed his cell phone and looked to see what Benny was doing. Then he turned to Steven and Kelsey.
“Rangers got a call from the manager of a motel just outside of Coleman in response to the BOLO they issued yesterday. So they responded, and now they have one Deke Walters in custody.”
“And Benny’s mother?” Kelsey asked quietly.
Matthew, once more, checked to see the little boy was busy playing and not paying the adults any attention before he turned a somber face to them.
“She wasn’t with him. She’s missing.”
* * * *
Kelsey paid close attention as Steven saddled the mare. It had been several years since she’d last sat a horse. As she watched him work, the process of readying a mount to ride came back to her. As she stood inside the neat barn, time seemed to melt away. The scent of horse and hay had once been her favorite aroma.
She’d taken riding lessons when she’d been a horse-mad twelve-year-old girl growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania. She’d saved her allowance all winter, plus did odd jobs for her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Pierce, so that come the summer she could take those lessons and spend time with her equine friends.
When she’d married Philip and moved to Austin, she’d found a riding stable outside of the city and resumed the pastime. That had been just one more thing that had been lost in the aftermath of the trauma five years before.
“I suppose if I hadn’t been such a hard-ass about trying to keep the relationship between the three of us just about sex, I could have gone riding weeks ago.”
Steven looked up, his grin wide. “Darlin’, you and I both know there’s no way I can comment on that statement and win. So I’m just going to smile and say you look lovely today.”
“You’re a pretty smart man,” Kelsey said. There was so much about the brothers Benedict that she liked and admired. Their quick minds ranked up near the top of the list.
“My momma didn’t raise no fools,” Steven said with an exaggerated twang.
Kelsey laughed. Then the smile died as she thought again about Matthew’s phone call of just minutes before.
The state cops as well as Matthew and Adam had questioned Deke Walters. He claimed he had no idea where Benny’s mom had gone. “Where do you think Ginny Rose is?”
“My guess is she’s going to try and find her way back here,” Steven said
“That’s what I think, too. Matthew sounded disappointed when that trucker stepped forward to say he saw her leave the motel room and take off across the field. I think he wanted to keep Deke in custody.”
“Can you blame him, really? Judging by the letter Ginny left, Deke Walters put his hands on her on a regular basis. The man likely deserves to spend some time in jail. Unfortunately, he doesn’t deserve to be charged with Ginny’s disappearance.”
Kelsey had no tolerance for anyone who abused someone smaller or weaker than themselves. She didn’t know anything about Walters but could ea
sily picture him, a big bruiser of a guy in a wife-beater T-shirt holding a can of beer while playing armchair quarterback.
“Let’s hope someone sees her and soon. It’s a long way from that motel back to here.” Kelsey knew she’d worry about the woman until she was found.
“On top of the distance, there’s the danger of just being out in open country. She’s a city gal and likely doesn’t have a clue how to survive in the wilderness.”
They’d decided not to say anything to Benny. Not until they had something positive to report to him. For the most part, the little boy seemed happy. He certainly loved all the new toys the people of Lusty had given to him, and he enjoyed the attention they were lavishing on him. Yet there were moments when his little lip quivered, and Kelsey knew he really wanted his mother.
“Come on, sweetheart. There’s nothing we can do for Benny right now. Mom’s taking good care of him,” Steven said.
The tenderness in his expression and in his voice told her more than his actual words how attuned he was to her. She’d never believed men could be so macho and so caring at the same time until she’d taken up with these Benedict brothers.
“I know you’re right.”
Steven handed her the reins of her horse, a chestnut mare named Daisy. When he offered her a leg up, she accepted, swinging her right leg over the horse.
“That hurt,” Steven said as she settled herself in the saddle.
He’d obviously seen her wince. She wasn’t going to lie to him. “Just lifting my own weight hurt my arm and shoulder a bit. It’s all right. I can’t baby it too much, or it’ll just get even more painful and stiffen up to boot.”
“I know. Damn it. I hate like hell that you’re in pain.”
Steven swung up on the back of his black gelding. Kelsey thought both man and beast appeared strong, arrogant, and in charge of the world.
The brothers had been careful to make sure she knew they respected her right to be an independent woman. She also had no doubts whatsoever that they each had definite limits in mind for that independence and would do what they felt necessary to take care of her and keep her safe.
Covington, Cara - Love Under Two Benedicts [Lusty, Texas 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Page 15