Love Under Three Titans (2 page)

No, what bothered her the most was the fact that Richard still had hold of her hand—and she was holding his right back.

* * * *

Rick Benedict decided that if he pretended he wasn’t holding Maggie Morrison’s hand, then she wouldn’t notice he was and therefore wouldn’t ask him to let go. Again.

Not much of a plan, Romeo
.

No, it wasn’t, but then no one had ever accused him of being smooth with the ladies. Just the opposite, in fact.

The first time he’d held onto Maggie’s hand earlier hadn’t been by design. She’d initiated the common gesture of greeting, and of course, he’d reciprocated.

Who knew the touch of her flesh against his would be such a turn-on? He’d been shocked, and aroused, and utterly unable to do anything else but hold on to her.

What did it mean? Rick mentally shook his head.
Okay, I know what it means when a man gets turned on
. He wasn’t a virgin. He’d had sex—on a couple of occasions, as a matter of fact. But always those encounters had been just one-on-one and, ultimately, not very satisfying. As close as he and his brothers were, they’d never felt that zing of attraction for a single woman before—so, they’d never shared one.

Rick blamed himself for that. He’d always figured that the same lack inside him that made him clumsy in his interpersonal relationships gave him an underperforming libido, too.

He’d never told anyone, because what was the point? It was what it was. He’d always hoped to have a marriage like the one his parents enjoyed. Despite being the oldest, he’d counted on his lustier brothers to carry the ball in that department.

He still recalled that first moment when Maggie Morrison had walked into
Lusty Appetites
a few weeks before. He’d felt as if he’d been hit by a bus. His reaction to her had electrified him. The knowledge that his brothers had apparently reacted the same way to the woman had delighted him beyond words.

This was the first time they’d seen her since. In the interim she’d returned to New Jersey to finish organizing her move from there to here. A quick glance at his brothers confirmed their first reaction to the lovely Maggie hadn’t been either an anomaly or their imaginations.

As to what would happen next, Rick had no clue. But it seemed like a good idea to do everything he could to keep Maggie with them for as long as possible.

He inhaled deeply. Hers was an enticing fragrance, a combination of something lightly floral and a scent his body instantly recognized as pure
Maggie
. His cock began to come to life, something that had never happened in public before.

Thank God there’s such a large crowd around us that no one will notice
.

Kate’s soft voice cut into his musings, bringing his attention back to the Ceremony. “The vows you make to each other today are sacred. Your promises, one to the others, form the core of your ménage marriage. By speaking them now, in front of family and friends here in this special place, in this sanctuary created by our ancestors, you become family
together
. Family is eternal, just as love is eternal. Are you ready to speak your vows?”

All three spoke together, as one. “We are.”

Rick had attended many ceremonies. They’d formed a staple of his growing-up years here in Lusty. Yet this one, with Maggie beside him and his brothers surrounding her, felt special. It was almost as if the four of them had somehow created a new, single entity together, right here and now. He felt as if he was seeing everything through Maggie’s eyes, making the familiar new and fresh again.

In his thirty-four years, this was the most spiritual moment Rick had ever experienced. He had an inkling that what he felt was but a fraction of the emotion those standing under the bower felt.

Rick gave his cousins his full attention.

Morgan Kendall turned slightly so that he faced Tamara and his brother Henry.

“Tamara, you came into my life at a time when I wasn’t even looking for you. Now I can’t imagine living a single day without you. You’re the very heart of me. I promise to love you and never
ever
stop. I will be there for you, always, in good times and in bad times and in all of the times in between.” Then Morgan looked at his brother. “Henry, we have been brothers together and pilots together. Now we’ll be husbands together and fathers together. Partners together, with our wife, for the rest of our lives.”

Morgan stepped back, and his brother stepped forward.

“Tamara, it’s felt as if you belonged to me from the moment you fell out of the sky and landed practically in my arms.” Henry’s voice quavered, his usual insouciance absent. “I belong to you, Itty, now and forever. And you, my love, belong to me.”

Rick smiled at the use of Henry’s pet name for Tamara.

“Morgan, we will be husbands together and fathers together,
always
together and never alone on the journey we begin here today. I’ll always be there, your partner and friend.”

Tamara took the hands of her husbands in hers. “I never wanted to get married.”

Laughter floated around them, and certainly neither Morgan nor Henry seemed shocked or upset by Tamara’s declaration. “And I know, in my heart, that if I’d never fallen out of the sky, I wouldn’t have. But I did, and I am, and I believe this is all as it should be. Morgan and Henry, I love you both with all my heart. I’ll be your wife and your partner and the mother of your children. I will be yours through this life and on into the next.”

And then it was done. In the eyes of the people of Lusty, Texas, Morgan and Henry Kendall were now married to Tamara Kendall. Richard found himself waiting for his grandmother’s customary blessing. He wasn’t disappointed.

“And now your journey begins and your adventure awaits. May you forever remain steadfast, one in the others, and may love light your way, always.”

Family surrounded the newlyweds, and the spirit of family filled the air. Applause and cheers and shouts of “congratulations” rang out. The sounds of celebration echoed in the hall. Rick was reminded why it was that he and his brothers had come back to Lusty.

They’d missed this connection of family.

He snuck a look out the corner of his eye, pleased to see Maggie more than a little misty-eyed. She didn’t know the principals, but clearly she’d not been immune to the sentiment of the occasion.

Kevin, standing behind her, reached over her shoulder, holding a plain white hankie out to her.

Maggie didn’t appear to think it strange that he made the gesture. “Thanks.” Another woman might be embarrassed to appear emotional in front of men she didn’t know.

Maggie’s honesty in allowing them to see her as she was pleased him.

They got in line to congratulate the new family. Rick used the crush of people as an excuse to keep Maggie close to him.

The heat of her body seared him, the scent of her womanliness aroused him, and the pout of her lips made him want to nip her right there on her bottom lip with his teeth and then sink deep, deep, into her.

Maggie looked up at him just then, and their gazes locked. He watched her expression change from curiosity to interest and finally to wide-eyed awareness.

Rick squeezed her hand. From the way she stiffened, he guessed she’d completely forgotten he still had a hold of her. “Let’s find a table where we can talk.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Maggie tugged at her hand, and he released her.

Trey and Kevin moved closer so that they more or less surrounded her.

“Please, Maggie?” Trey ran his hand down Maggie’s back.

Rick knew they all saw her shiver in response to that touch.

“Just give us ten minutes,” Kevin said.

“Ten minutes isn’t really much time.” Rick kept his expression neutral as he gave her back her own words.

Maggie’s laughter burst out, a light, musical sound that carried a note of nervousness. She looked at each of his brothers and then met his gaze once more.

Rick had flicked a glance at his brothers and realized he wasn’t the only one entranced by one Margaret Mary Morrison.

“I
should
say no. I’ll probably live to regret this,” she said.

“You won’t, not if we can help it.” Rick reached for her hand again and shrugged when she shook her head “no” and put her hands behind her back instead.

So he stood to her left and swept his arm out, letting her know she could pick any table she liked—even as he wished the place was empty of everyone but the four of them.

He thought she might choose a half-full table with several seats already taken, but she surprised him and headed to a smaller one in the back, away from the band and dance floor and most of the rest of the guests.

Trey held her chair, quickly took everyone’s drink order, and then headed off to get them. Kevin sat opposite Maggie, and Rick took the chair beside him rather than sit right next to her.

It was time he gave his brothers the opportunity to be close to her and claim some of her attention. He felt as if he’d hogged her all to himself up until now.

The band started to play classic country favorites without vocals—they hadn’t had a singer, he knew, in more than a year—and conversation rolled around them. Trey returned with four bottles of beer, and Rick waited until his brother had settled into his chair next to Maggie.

She didn’t bother with the glass Trey had brought her, just took a drink straight from the bottle. Rick’s insides felt itchy, and he realized the sensation was pure impatience.

There were a dozen things he wanted to say to Maggie, but they all just got tangled up on his tongue. He’d promised her the opportunity to have her questions answered, and even though he wanted to focus on a more personal agenda, he was a man of his word.

He inhaled deeply, prayed for patience, and said, “Whenever you’re ready, Miss Maggie, ask away. Anything, everything, and we’ll do our best to satisfy you.”

He hadn’t planned the double entendre. Neither did he even take a moment to try and anticipate what her first question would be, which was just as well.

He’d never, in a million years, have guessed it.

Maggie set her bottle aside and leaned forward, closer to them all. “Is it in the food, the water, or the air?”

Rick waited a moment, wondering if there was more. He met the gazes of his brothers and felt only marginally relieved when they appeared to be just as confused as he.

Of course, they left it to him to respond. “I’m sorry. Is what in the food, the water, or the air?”

“The drugs or chemicals or whatever the hell it is y’all use around here to make women crave a lusty bout of sex with more than one man at a time?”

His brothers each opened their mouths and closed them again, looking like catfish out of water.

Rick amazed even himself when he didn’t miss a beat. “Why, Miss Maggie, are you craving a lusty bout of sex with us?”

Please, God, I didn’t just ask that out loud, did I?

Of course she knew she had. Richard Benedict’s outrageous answer was proof of that. And a part of her thought it was a damn good question. But only because if the answer was yes to
any
of the above—which reason told her it was not—then she wouldn’t have to accept any responsibility for the way she’d been feeling since she arrived at the community center earlier.

At the moment she was trying to completely deny the reality that she’d been just as aroused and attracted the first time she’d laid eyes on the brothers Benedict weeks before as she was now.

Neither would she admit that she was so horny at the moment that she was indeed craving a lusty bout of sex. Several bouts, in fact, and with the three men who’d turned all their attention on her the moment she walked up to them an hour earlier.

Maggie only had one experience in life to liken this situation to.

Once, during her senior year in college, she’d gone with her friends, Janice and Helen, to a nudist resort. The day trip had been in support of Helen’s sister Leona, a competitor that year for the title of Miss Nude World.

It wasn’t until the pageant got underway that Maggie realized the nudity wasn’t restricted to the stage. As she looked all around the stands at her fellow spectators, she noticed that most of them were naked. She’d never forget how, on that hot July day, her discomfort had been replaced by curiosity and a strange, nearly irresistible compulsion to join most of the audience by tossing her own clothes aside.

Oh, my God. It’s not the air, the food, or the water. It’s me!

Maggie became aware that three very sexy men were staring at her, each with identical expressions of lust and hope in their eyes.

Richard reached out and took her right hand while Kevin, sitting across from her, took her left.

Trevor, seated impossibly close beside her, ran his hand up and down her back. He tilted his head closer to her. “Maggie?”

How could their touch work so quickly to soothe her even as it stoked her arousal? “I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“Perhaps not, but we’re very glad you did.” Trevor turned his chair slightly so that he could look directly at her. “There’re no chemicals—well, unless you count those pesky pheromones we all have.” His voice vibrated deep in her belly. It was a sensation she’d never felt before.

“You know that we would never hurt you, and we certainly would never force you to do anything you didn’t want to do, don’t you, Maggie? We’re just taking, and there’s no threat in that.” Kevin’s voice felt like fine silk across her flesh.

“Of course I know you’d never hurt or force me. That’s not the problem.”

Richard tilted his head to one side. “No, the problem is that you
do
want us, and you’re not used to wanting, not used to being drawn to men, and so you don’t trust the feeling, and you don’t know what to do about it.”

Every one of Maggie’s senses tingled. How could this man she barely knew understand her so well? And how the hell could it possibly be that all three of them aroused her, when no one man ever had before?

Intrinsically honest, Maggie never thought to shy away from the truth. “All right.” She nodded. “That’s exactly the problem.”

The three brothers looked at each other, and Maggie wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn they were psychic. It seemed to her as if a wealth of conversation was taking place without a single word being uttered.

“What do you want to do about it?”

“What are my options?”
Oh my God, Maggie, shut up
!

For a long moment the men said nothing, just looked at each other and then at her.

“Your only option right now is to think about it.” Richard used his thumb on the back of her hand again, and she couldn’t hold back the shiver that light caress gave her. “Chivalry is indeed hell, but, love? We can all see you’re beyond exhausted.”

No one had ever called her “love” before. She really liked the way Richard’s voice uttered the endearment.

“Baby, it pains us more than you can possibly know to step back from this moment, but Rick’s right. You need to eat, and you need to sleep.” Kevin brought her hand up and kissed the back of it.

“So, sweetheart, for the rest of this afternoon, why not just relax? We’ll talk and get to know each other.” Trey ran his hand down her back. “Then we’ll see you safely back to Ginny’s place, when you’re ready to leave.”

Maggie felt as if she was being handled, and wanted to protest.

Maggie, you sound as if you’re disappointed that these men aren’t going to jump you here and now.

That thought pulled her up by her feminist instincts and gave her a good shake, to boot.

“Make no mistake. We want you, and we aim to have you. But when you come to our bed, it will be willingly, as the result of a conscious, well-thought-out decision.”

Maggie couldn’t stop her eyebrow from rising in response to Richard Benedict’s casual arrogance. Until that very moment, she’d have sworn that she
hated
arrogant men. Apparently, Richard Benedict was the exception to that rule.

Still, she didn’t know if was wise to let him think he could get away with that high-handedness. “Maybe once I’m rested and fed, I won’t want you. Maybe I’ll have discovered that what I believed was attraction was nothing more than a result of the combination of hunger, exhaustion, and propinquity.”

Richard’s gaze never left hers. “Care to make a little wager on that?”

Wager that she was actually attracted to them or wasn’t? Wager that she wouldn’t go to bed with them or that she would? Either or, Maggie, who never bet on anything, was feeling just reckless enough to break the habit of a lifetime.

She knew she was going to regret this, but she simply couldn’t stop herself. “You’re on. What do I get if I win?”

“Why, love, you get us, of course.”