Love Under Three Titans (10 page)

“I can thank you because you were thoughtful enough to get me a gift in the first place. I haven’t received many.”

That’s maybe showing him a little too much of me.
Maggie pretended he didn’t just send her a look of shock and instead turned her attention back to the box. The parcel couldn’t have been much more than a foot, cubed, and didn’t weigh very much.

Richard set a sharp knife on the table and she looked up. “Thanks.” It didn’t take long to slice through the tape and open the box. She removed the packing and looked at the small white and black device inside.

“What on earth…” She picked it up and looked at it. It had an on and off switch, and two buttons marked “select.” Next to the top one she read the label “base sounds” and next to the second, “overlay sounds.”

“May I?”

She nodded and Richard took the device over to the counter, plugged it in, and pressed one of the buttons.

The sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore echoed in the kitchen.

“I thought you might get to missing the sound of the ocean, especially when you’re alone, at night. I thought this might help.”

Maggie didn’t know what to say. It was the most unusual—and thoughtful—gift anyone had ever given her.

“So this should help you sleep at night when you’re missing the shore.” Richard set a cup of coffee down on the table in front of her. Then he gently lifted her chin with a single finger. “At least until my brothers and I have you naked and in bed between us.”

How did I end up coming into the lions’ den for dinner?

Maggie took a moment to backtrack over her day. She’d been invited to dine with the Benedicts not once but three times. The too-sexy men had each issued an invitation as they’d happened to “drop by” her inn during the day.

Kevin’s arrival had happened around lunchtime, about fifteen minutes after Richard had left. He’d brought her a gift, too, of sorts. He’d stopped at Kelsey’s and then arrived with lunch—just soup and a sandwich—which he’d then set out on her kitchen table for her to eat. He’d kept her company while she’d done so, making her laugh as he’d told her tales of growing up a triplet in Lusty, Texas.

He chided her that she’d have missed the meal altogether if he hadn’t stopped by, and he was probably right. She’d been so focused on getting items crossed off her “to do” list, she hadn’t once thought about taking time out to eat, or to relax. Kevin had managed to accomplish both without seeming to do much at all.

Of course, he’d then proceeded to lay several mind-blowing kisses on her, as Richard had done, and by the time he’d left, her brain had been scrambled and her hormones whipped into a creamy froth.

Kevin’s flavor still lingered when Trevor had arrived, almost at the same time as Jordan Kendall. Trevor had accompanied her and Jordan up to the third floor, and asked some questions of his cousin Maggie hadn’t thought of as Jordan measured and sketched and discussed various ideas for turning the area into a honeymoon retreat. He’d then given Jordan a hand as he reexamined the supports outside under the back balcony. Of course, Trevor hadn’t only been focused on assisting his cousin, as he proved once Jordan had left.

Trevor had somehow been able to intuit that her shoulders had stiffened up and her back was a bit achy. Once they were alone, he’d set about working the kinks
out
of Maggie’s tight and sore muscles and the heat
into
her only too impressionable libido. Several steamy kisses and caresses later, she’d once more been left little more than a blob of hormonal mush.

At no point during the day had she actually said yes to any of the invitations given her. Yet there she sat at their new kitchen table, enjoying the best pasta marinara she’d ever tasted—not to mention the best company a woman could ever ask to have at a meal.

Maggie found the Benedict men interesting as well as arousing. When they were together like this, the conversation was lively, and while they aroused her sexually, in every other way she found them a very good fit.

Oh, Maggie, your thoughts have a mind of their own
.

Her appetite for food was sated, but her appetite for her hosts had begun to grow sometime between the salad and the main course.

“Would you like more, Maggie?”

She looked up quickly and met Kevin’s gaze. He held the huge serving bowl out to her, yet she couldn’t help but sense it wasn’t food he’d really been offering her.

“No, thank you. The dinner was absolutely wonderful. I probably took more than I should have. I’m totally stuffed.”

Kevin grinned and set the bowl down. “My secret is orange juice. I put just a tiny bit in with the tomatoes when I’m making the sauce.”

“Orange juice? I never would have thought to do that.”

“I can be very creative, baby. I believe the practice of trying out new and unusual things to be one of the true joys in life.”

Oh, he is
so
not referring to cooking now
. “I’m sure you can, and you do. The problem, of course, is that not everyone has a sense of adventure or can easily take a step out on the wild side and away from the norm.”

“Ah, well the secret to success in that regard is twofold. First, one needs to be offered that adventure in a completely safe environment.” Trevor brushed his hand over her shoulder, a back-forth caress that she’d begun to crave. “And then, one needs to be given only a little of it at a time.”

Richard nodded. “Exactly! You need to start out slowly, even gently, and then gradually increase the sense of daring until you get to the point that you come to understand that the thrill really is worth the risk.” Richard had twined his fingers with hers as he’d spoken. Trevor still caressed her shoulder and arm, and Kevin—Kevin watched her with that particular look he had, the one that seemed to stroke her all over regardless of the fact he was seated at the other side of the table and not even touching her.

Maggie looked at each of them in turn, so completely at sea she didn’t know what to do next.

She’d been thinking about them—about taking them on as her lovers—for days now. Her thoughts kept going around and around with no clear line of logic emerging. She found the idea of accepting not one but three men into her body a lot less strange than it had been just the week before.

It’s likely the air, the food,
and
the water.

Or it could just be that what she was considering was simply considered the norm here. Certainly she was beyond the age of wanting a white picket fence and a happy-ever-after. Set in her ways, Maggie had long ago decided she didn’t want marriage and children. She’d seen too many examples of relationships where women were dominated by men who expected to be waited on hand and foot. None of her friends’ husbands seemed to give a thought to their wife’s comfort or needs.

Beyond that, Maggie liked her freedom, and being the captain of her own ship, and she didn’t want to give any of that up.

But trying new things, having an adventure or two, and infusing her life with excitement—in short, having
sex—
was another matter entirely.

Over the last few days she’d been kissed and touched, aroused and soothed by these three men—first together and then one-on-one. She craved more.

Maggie guessed the bottom line was to ask herself a simple question, one she’d skirted until now.

Was there any reason at all to continue to deny herself what she, and these men, all so obviously wanted?

The answer to that question was even simpler. And that answer was, no, not a one.

She didn’t announce her decision. Instead, she said, “I don’t even know how you’d go about choreographing such a thing.”

Maggie shrugged when the men all smiled. She guessed she’d once again proven she wasn’t one for fancy moves or prevarication. Her cheeks felt warm, of course. She thought that around the brothers Benedict, blushing might become, for her, a chronic condition, not necessarily likely to improve with time.

“We’ve heard stories and done some research on the matter ourselves.” Richard picked up her hand and kissed it. “But for right now, love, why don’t we all just go for a nice walk?”

Maggie felt her right eyebrow go up and couldn’t stop the imperious gesture. “I’m finally saying
yes
, and you want to go for a walk?”

“Well, not just a walk, sweetheart. We’ll load the dishwasher, tidy the kitchen, and then walk off our meal.”

“Ah.” Maggie tilted her head as she looked at each man. “That must be the Lusty, Texas, version of ‘don’t go into the water for an hour after you eat.’” When they appeared confused, she said, “Swimming on a full stomach can lead to crippling cramps that could result in drowning. Growing up on the shore, I heard ‘no swimming for an hour after meals’ nearly every day. It was one of those rules that every adult enforced.” She wrinkled her nose. “Makes me wonder what sex on a full stomach might result in.”

Kevin laughed, Richard smiled, and Trevor said, “Some questions are better left unanswered.”

It didn’t take long to set the kitchen to rights. Maggie noted that all three of the brothers proved proficient in dealing with the task and in keeping her from helping. Then Richard put a sweater around her shoulders, kissed her
nose
, and led her out the back door.

Spring definitely had taken hold here in Texas. The air was mild enough Maggie had to wonder what the summer would be like, although she was pretty sure she knew.

She’d paid attention to news stories about this part of the country since learning she had family here. The thought briefly occurred to her that she just might regret the loss of the cooling influence of the Atlantic Ocean come August.

Richard took her left hand and Trevor her right as they made their way across the slightly rolling pastureland. Kevin ranged himself beside Trevor, and they walked in a line, their pace relaxed and unhurried.

“You haven’t had a chance to visit the museum here, have you, love?”

Maggie glanced over at Richard. “No, but I want to. Ginny told me a story that first night when she came to visit me at the shore. She told me about a woman sold into marriage to a man whose heart was as black as sin.” Maggie took in the scenery then looked back at Richard. “It was an intriguing story.”

Richard smiled. “This land we’re walking on was part of that original tract, owned by Tyrone Maddox and inherited by Sarah after Joshua Benedict shot him dead.”

“Ginny said the shooting was in defense of another.”

Trevor shrugged. “Who knows what
really
happened back then? We’ll go with the popular version, which says the killing was a righteous one. Tyrone Maddox pulled his gun, apparently intending to shoot Warren Jessop, who at the time was unarmed. Joshua gave Warren a shove as he drew his gun and fired back.”

“A man plots to marry and then murder a woman to inherit her coin, he deserves killing.” Kevin nodded to emphasize the statement.

Maggie agreed completely.

“This was cattle land then.” Richard nodded to indicate the land that stretched out to the north and west. “Part of the original homestead, as I said. But when the oil began to earn a lot of money around the turn of the century, the family cut back on ranching. Steven operates what is today the original Benedict Ranch, more because he’s a rancher to the bone than for any need to make a living from the endeavor. This land, here at this edge of town, as well as another huge tract just passed the airfield farther to the north, has just been left as nature intended the land to be.”

There were a few trees, and what she guessed were those wildflowers Kate had told her about—mostly blue ones—dotted the carpet of green-brown grass.

“It’s pretty. Despite keeping an eye on current affairs in this area—on account of Ginny being here—I’d somehow had the idea that Texas was flat, dry, and barren. But it’s not. There’re plenty of flowers and streams and rivers that I’ve seen, so far.”

Maggie looked behind her. The houses of Lusty were as individual as the people who lived in them, though most she’d seen were of the Victorian style. Standing there, she could see the one they’d just left—the brothers referred to it as the Grandparents’ House. She could also see her inn. She realized the cul-de-sacs in this part of town had been laid out parallel to each other. It would be a shorter distance to go out the back door of a house at the end of one cul-de-sac, and across the field to a house at the end of another, than it would to drive along the streets.

“You know it’s coming on full spring in Texas when the bluebonnets are in bloom.” Kevin indicated the flowers she’d already admired. He seemed to take in the view, and in his gaze Maggie read the same emotion she sometimes felt herself when sitting down on the beach back in New Jersey. That emotion was pride—not so much in the
fact
of ownership but rather the legacy of stewardship, generation upon generation, that land ownership engendered.

She didn’t regret letting go of the land that had been in her family for three generations. For her, the time had been ripe for a new beginning. She thought then that these men were tied more firmly to this land, and their legacy, than she’d ever been to her own.

The men had maneuvered so that they formed a triangle in which she was the center point. They seemed to do that a lot, and she wondered if they did so deliberately, or subconsciously.

A soft breeze kissed her cheek and ruffled her hair. Maggie thought she could smell rain in the air, as she had earlier in the day, and wondered if the rain would fall before morning.

“Eventually, you’ll want to have all three of us inside of your body at the same time.” Richard tilted his head and said the words as if he was telling her the sun was going to shine in the morning. “You wondered how that could be done. Trevor will lie flat on the bed, and you’ll straddle him and take his cock into your pussy. Kevin will stretch out on the bed beside you and Trevor, close to your heads, and you’ll take his cock into your mouth, and then you’ll take my cock in your ass. We’ll change that around, of course, just to keep things from getting too boring.”

Maggie burst out laughing. How completely ridiculous was this entire scene? Yet it was so…
them
, all four of them. Trust Richard to know that she’d worry about the mechanics of how they would all three have sex together until she had an answer. And trust him, too, to say something so off the wall and make her laugh.

She thought those two words again.
Trust Richard
. She did, of course. Somehow, in so short a time, she’d come to trust them all.

“At least now I understand why the bed is so large.” A picture formed in her mind, the very scene Richard had just so simply described. She let herself look at that picture from every angle possible. She found herself aroused, and curious.

“Of course, we’re all likely going to get a lot more intimate with each other in the process.” Trevor’s quiet tone drew her gaze to him. How could he know what she was thinking, time and again?