“Only on the weekends. Weekdays I’m at the daycare from five in the morning to roughly seven in the evening. On a good day, I can sneak out at six. Now that Kayla’s there, I’m hopin’ I can start alternating times with her so I can have a few hours to myself during the week.” Bristol smiled but it was weak. “What about y’all? How’s the ranch comin’ along? Word around town is you’re doin’ a gut job on the place.”
“Not quite that extensive. Mostly cosmetic,” Kaden explained. “We’ve been doin’ what we can for the past few weeks, bits and pieces here and there.”
He didn’t mention it had kept them busy while she had been ignoring them.
“I take it you don’t miss Kaleb’s old house?”
“Not even a little,” Keegan answered.
“Only because it’s in better condition,” Kaden said.
Bristol smiled, clearly catching their contradicting viewpoints.
Kaden noticed there was a lingering tension in the air. Almost like Bristol was expecting them to pounce on her at the first opportunity. If she wasn’t fidgeting, she was repositioning, her gaze never settling on one place for long.
Then it dawned on him. This was the first time they’d really sat down to have a civilized conversation, just the three of them. Generally, they were around others when they chatted, usually crossing paths at Curtis and Lorrie’s.
Of course, Bristol’s anxiety ratcheted up a few notches when silence settled between them. For the life of him, Kaden couldn’t come up with anything to say. Thankfully, she finally did.
“Did you see they’re buildin’ a spa on Main Street?”
Keegan chuckled. “A spa. We’d been tossin’ around the idea of buyin’ it. You know, before we learned the ranch was available.”
Bristol smiled. “Really?”
Kaden shook his head. “No. We weren’t tossin’ it around.” He nodded toward Keegan. “He was.”
“Whatever.” Keegan grinned, turned his attention to Bristol. “We’ll let you settle the debate.”
Bristol’s blue eyes widened. “What debate’s that?”
“We batted around ideas on what might work there.”
“Such as?”
Keegan shrugged. “Vape shop, thrift store, sandwich shop.”
Kaden grinned when Bristol didn’t seem impressed.
“Yarn store?” Keegan’s grin widened. “Maybe one of them overpriced pet stores dedicated to pamperin’ your pooch.”
“Tell her what you were really thinkin’,” Kaden urged.
Keegan’s chin tilted up. “Arcade.”
Kaden glanced her way, relaxed somewhat. “What are your thoughts?”
“Old-school arcade? Like Pac-Man and Centipede? Or you talkin’ monster televisions hooked to PlayStation and Xbox?”
“Definitely old-school,” Keegan said quickly.
“Skee-Ball?” Bristol asked.
Keegan’s grin widened. “Sure. Why not?”
“If it was yours, what would you put in there?” Kaden inquired.
“Good question. We’ve got a bookstore now. And a bakery.”
“Plus the toy store,” Keegan added. “Have you been in that place?”
Bristol nodded. “Once. To check it out. A little too new-age for my taste. An arcade, huh? I’m not sure it would’ve lured in the teenage crowd, but you would’ve gotten us old folks in there all the time.” She smiled sweetly. “But good thing for the women of Coyote Ridge, a day spa’s exactly what we need.”
Kaden made a mental note to see about getting her a gift certificate to the place when it opened.
“So, how did you come to buy the ranch?” Bristol asked, sounding surprised. “I didn’t even know Tuck was sellin’.”
Kaden was the one to respond. “He moved to Wyoming to be with his kids and grandkids.”
“Wow. I guess I thought he’d always be part of the landscape. Kinda like the Walkers.”
“He’s gettin’ up there in age,” Keegan explained. “Got some health issues. His kids wanted him closer to them.”
Kaden watched as she tossed around the information.
“That’s hard work,” she finally said. “He runs what? Thirty head of cattle out there?”
“At his high point, yeah, thirty was about where he was,” Kaden told her. “Right now, there’re ten out there. Once we get settled, we’ll figure out what we can and can’t handle.”
“What about Walker Demo? Working a ranch is a full-time gig.”
“It is,” Keegan confirmed. “We plan to let Autumn know we’ll be goin’ to part-time. Won’t leave her in the lurch.”
“Is that what you wanna do?” she asked, again looking back and forth between them. “Be ranchers?”
“What we’ve wanted for as long as we can remember,” Kaden admitted.
A knock sounded on the door and Bristol shot to her feet like someone had fired a pistol in her ear. So much for thinking she was beginning to get comfortable.
“I think she’s scared of us,” Keegan whispered when she carried the food into the kitchen.
Kaden stared after her, though he couldn’t see her because of all the damn walls separating the space.
He wasn’t sure scared was the right word, but they certainly made her nervous. Then again, he was feeling a bit twitchy himself. You could’ve knocked him over with a feather when she texted to suggest lunch. Now that he was here, Kaden couldn’t help but think this was a bad idea.
“You gonna hold down the couch?” Keegan teased. “Or you comin’ to join us?”
Hell, he hadn’t even realized his brother had left the room.
*
After they ate, as she cleared the table of the old plastic plates her father had favored, Bristol wished she’d taken the time to make a few upgrades to this place. The fact that Keegan had called her out on it had cemented the fact she truly was stuck in the past. Probably one of the reasons she didn’t have people over.
Of course, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it right now. It was bad enough she’d made the offer to fix them lunch only to realize she didn’t have any food in the house. Seriously, who did that? Certainly not a good host.
“Why don’t you let me handle that?”
Spinning around, Bristol inhaled sharply when she noticed Keegan standing directly behind her.
Before she could argue, he took the plate out of her hand, carried it over to the sink.
“I’ll get to it eventually,” she assured him. “The dishwasher doesn’t work, so I’ll wash them by hand.”
Something she would surely have to fix before the baby arrived. There would be more dishes to contend with then.
“What’s wrong with it?” he asked, his gaze dropping to the dishwasher.
She giggled uncomfortably. “No idea. It hasn’t worked for years.” Bristol took a step back, looked past him. “Where’s Kaden?”
“He got a call. Stepped outside.”
Nodding as though that made sense, Bristol gripped the hem of her sweater, rubbed it between her fingers. Yep, she was feeling a little antsy.
“Do we make you nervous?” he asked, coming to stand in front of her.
“What?” She forced a smile, tried not to fidget, then lied through her teeth. “No. Of course not.”
Keegan tilted her chin back using one finger, his gaze raking over her face.
“Okay, fine. Yes.” She smiled up at him. “A little.”
“Why’s that?”
“I honestly have no idea,” she admitted.
“Do we scare you?” He gently rubbed her cheek.
Bristol shook her head. Funny how that simple touch, the lightest brush of his finger on her skin, warmed every cell in her entire body.
For so long, she’d tried to convince herself she had no real interest in Kaden and Keegan, but she had always known it was utter crap. In fact, she’d somehow managed to fall in love without any effort at all. They made it pretty easy. Well, when Keegan wasn’t getting defensive and bein
g rude, of course.
But he’d apologized for that already and Bristol was bound and determined to leave that behind them. No sense dredging up the past, not moments like that one. It would only get in the way of their future. Whatever that might be.
Right now she would live in the moment because the moment was all they had. Tomorrow would be a new day, with its new set of obstacles and issues. Today was where she needed to be. With Kaden and Keegan.
The truth was, Bristol had been looking for an excuse to explore more of what they were offering ever since that night at Alluring Indulgence Resort last Christmas. Only she hadn’t had the nerve to approach them. And yes, she’d managed to evade them at every turn, but that was due more to fear than lack of interest.
It wasn’t like it was a rational fear. Certainly not anything ominous.
No, Bristol had worried all along that she could so easily fall for these two men. And it had happened without her even realizing it. They were men she admired, men she enjoyed talking to, men who made her laugh.
Bristol lost her train of thought when Keegan’s lips brushed hers.
“Where’d you go?” he whispered before kissing her a little more firmly as he stepped in close, his hand resting lightly on her hip.
“I’m right here,” she said with a smile, allowing her hands to slide up his chest, around his neck.
He pressed his lips to hers before his tongue joined the mix, sliding sinfully against hers.
The man could kiss, she’d give him that. He somehow managed to own her mouth by coaxing her, not dominating. It was a heady thing, really. Something she found impossible to resist.
“Bristol…”
Heat engulfed her from head to toe when Keegan’s hands slid down her back, cupping her butt. When he pulled her in closer, she suddenly felt light-headed. Not necessarily a good thing considering they were still standing in her kitchen. She got the feeling he could have her naked in two seconds flat without ever touching her clothes. The man was that potent.
Keegan shifted, his stubbled jaw rubbing lightly over her cheek. She could feel his warm breath against her skin, and she was almost positive her knees were turning to jelly.
“I want to taste you again,” he said softly against her ear. “Right here. I want to sit you on that counter and lick your pussy until you beg me to make you come.”
Oh, God.
Goose bumps broke out on her arms, made her scalp tingle. She’d never been with a man whose thoughts were spoken so freely and with such eroticism.
“Keegan…”
“Let me, Bristol. Let me have you for dessert.”
Refusing seemed like a stupid thing to do.
When he went to step back, she grabbed his arm, forced him to stay where he was. Well, technically, she didn’t force him to do anything. Keegan had a good eighty, maybe ninety pounds on her. All muscle. He was far stronger, so if he’d wanted to drag her along behind him, it would’ve required little effort on his part.
“Are you saying no?” The rough gravel of his voice scraped her nerve endings to life in the most sensual way.
“No.” She sighed. “I mean, no, I’m not saying no.”
The next thing she knew, Keegan was working her leggings off, her panties being dragged down with them, and then he had her perched on the countertop.
But he didn’t drop to his knees and put his mouth on her. Oh, no. Clearly he wasn’t finished, because he managed to rid her of her shirt and bra, too, leaving her completely naked, her bare butt on the cold laminate countertop while his hot mouth was on hers once again.
Their mouths melded, tongue gliding against tongue, hands roaming, his on her breasts, hers on his back, as Bristol’s heart began to beat harder, faster, her need ratcheting up with more speed than she’d thought possible.
“Keegan … please.”
“I love when you beg.”
Bristol chuckled because he would say something like that.
And then he was kissing his way down her body. She tried to recline but the upper cabinet was in the way, making it impossible for her to move. But Keegan didn’t seem to mind. He squatted down, his warm breath fanning her most sensitive parts as he placed her feet so they were sitting squarely on his shoulders, the position making it impossible to close her knees.
She should’ve been embarrassed, being naked in the kitchen, his face between her legs, but she wasn’t. This was liberating. All her life she’d been prim and proper. And sex with her previous partners had always been missionary and boring. But that wasn’t because she wanted it that way, it was because no one had ever shown her any other way. People saw her as sweet and innocent, and sure, for the most part maybe she was. But that didn’t mean her desires didn’t run hot, that she didn’t want a man to do unspeakable things like this.
“Oh, God.” Bristol moaned when Keegan’s tongue lapped at her.
She slid her fingers into his hair, which was just long enough on the top for her to get a handful. She held him there, unable to move because of the position while he worked her into a frenzy with his mouth. Bristol dropped her head back and let the sensations overwhelm her. Her skin tingled the more he teased and tormented, but Keegan never allowed her to reach that pinnacle, always pulling back at the last second.
When her frustration began to rise, she opened her eyes. And that was when she realized Kaden was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen, watching her. He wasn’t focused on what Keegan was doing, but on her. Those steel-blue eyes seemed darker, his expression revealing nothing. But still she could see the heat and the hunger etched on his masculine features.
God, he really was a beautiful man.
A beautiful man who enjoyed watching, she realized.
“Oh, God!” she cried out, holding Kaden’s gaze as she came from that thought and the exquisite exploration of Keegan’s tongue.
And then Keegan was on his feet, blocking her view of Kaden, so she turned her attention to him, kissing him when his mouth descended. She could taste herself on his tongue and that alone did crazy things to her. Something else she’d never done until them.
When he pulled back, Bristol gripped his wrists, not allowing him to go too far.
“Damn, woman,” he whispered softly. “Do you know how much I want you?”
Oh, she had some idea.
“Right here,” she demanded, reaching for the button on his jeans.
Keegan watched her, his heavy-lidded gaze locked on her face while she freed his cock, shoving his jeans down as much as she could.
She sucked in a shocked breath when Keegan jerked her hips toward him, bringing her to the very edge of the countertop even as he pushed deep inside her.
And then his arms were banded around her and hers around him as she held on for dear life. His thrusts were slow, and impossibly deep. A leisurely, sinful glide that shocked her with its intensity.
He felt so. Freaking. Good.
Keegan was taking it slow and she welcomed the pace, the sensual way he slid in and out.
Bristol lifted her head, met Kaden’s gaze where he still remained on the other side of the kitchen. She wanted to include him, but she got the feeling he was content with what was going on. And since she knew once would not be enough, she turned her attention back to Keegan.
He growled softly in her ear, her name spilling from his lips as he continued to stroke himself inside her. He must’ve decided their movements were too hindered because Keegan’s hands slid under her thighs and he lifted her, still lodged inside her to the hilt.
She threw her arms around his neck, held on tightly, and waited for what came next.
*
Christ Almighty.
The woman was going to be his undoing.
When Keegan situated himself in one of the kitchen chairs, allowing Bristol to straddle him while he continued to impale her on his cock, he thought he was going to lose his mind. She sheathed him, tight and wet and so fucking hot… It was all he could do not to fuck her senseless
, to rut like a wild animal and chase the release that was waiting for him.
But this wasn’t one of those wild encounters that left him breathless and tired. No, this was … some would probably call it making love because it was gentle and reverent and still so fucking hot, he thought he might spontaneously combust.
When he realized Bristol’s legs weren’t quite long enough to give her traction, Keegan gripped her hips, pulled her in, his cock sliding deeper into her then pushing her back only to do it again and again.
In this position, he could watch her face, see those sexy breasts as they swayed unbidden in front of him. He loved the way her neck arched when she tipped her head back, those dusky pink nipples that pebbled into tight little nubs. And those sexy moans that were driving him mad.
Keegan was aware of Kaden standing just a few feet away watching them. He’d known the minute his brother had returned, knew that Kaden was content to watch because that was something they both enjoyed. And he could only imagine how hot Bristol was from his position, the slight curve of her waist, the flare of her hips, the way her back muscles shifted beneath all that smooth skin.
And that gave him an idea.
“Turn around,” he instructed Bristol. “Let Kaden get a better view.”
Her blue eyes sparked with fire and heat. Bristol was eager as she got to her feet, pivoting to face away from him. Keegan gripped her hip and guided her back down so she was sitting on his cock once more, only this time, Kaden had a perfect view of her perfect tits.
He inhaled sharply as her slick heat engulfed him once more, the walls of her pussy milking him as he sought the one place he wanted to be. Inside her. For eternity.
Wrapping one arm around her rib cage, he held Bristol back against him, pumping his hips upward, fucking her from underneath. That lasted a few minutes before she was the one to change positions, planting her hands on his knees and leaning forward. The woman blew his mind as she began lifting and lowering on him, using her arms to leverage herself up before dropping back down.
Fucking hell. She was going to blow his damn mind if she kept that up.
The slow, wet glide of her pussy along his shaft had sparks igniting along his spine. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he came from the sheer ecstasy of being inside her. The lack of latex was mind-blowing, giving him the ultimate experience, nothing muted even the slightest.
Kaden & Keegan (The Walkers of Coyote Ridge Book 9) Page 23
