* * * *
“Please, Ben,” she sobbed. “Please, I need you inside me. I feel so alone.” Ben knew he couldn’t deny her anything.
In a heartbeat, Quinn left her and pulled a condom off the nightstand, flicking it to his dazed brother, who fumbled to catch it. He finally got it on and settled on top of Kara, chest to breast, parting the slick folds of her sex with the head of his penis.
“You feel so much better than I imagined, Kara,” he said as he continued to push into the tight muscles of her vagina. She whimpered and he immediately stopped.
“Don’t stop. I need more of you, I need to feel all of you.” She reached down and gripped his ass, attempting to pull him closer, but he was immoveable.
“You whimpered, Kara. I refuse to bring you pain with my need, Kachawli.” He brought his forehead down to hers, their faces sheltered by his hair, sinking into her deep blue eyes. There would be no lies, no deception.
“Yes, it hurts, but I also feel so much pleasure.” Kara paused, trying to catch her breath. “Ben, love, please, now it hurts more when you’re not filling me, when you’re not moving.” Ben saw tears begin to well in his lover’s eyes.
“No, Kara. Whatever you need.” He pressed forward until he was sheathed to the hilt, and he saw a shining smile burst across her face.
“Yes! Ben, you fill me so perfectly,” she sighed. She pulled her pelvis backward to start the rhythm of love and elicited a groan from Ben. She smiled up at him. “Please start moving inside me, I promise you’re not going to hurt me. You’ll only hurt me if you stay still.” She pushed upward and moaned in pleasure and he finally believed her. He still started slowly, moving in such a way that his cock stroked in and out of her channel, but the hair of his pelvis gently abraded her clit, so that the two sensations had her crying out and arching up.
“Slow down, Kachawli, together. Let’s go over together.”
“Yes, that’s what I want. Now,” she gasped.
“No,” he laughed, his hair swaying around them as his lips swept in for a tender kiss. “Patience, Kara.” He thrust slowly back in, swiveling so that even more nerves were ignited. When she tried to arch up again, he softly pressed her hips down into the mattress, holding her still so that he controlled the tempo.
“Ben,” she wailed. “It’s too much, I can’t stand it.”
* * * *
She heard a chuckle and realized Quinn was watching them. “You can and will stand it, sweetheart. We’re going to teach you patience.” She felt a shiver go down her spine at the deep sandpaper sound of Quinn’s voice and at his words. She didn’t know how to hold back her climax. As if Ben understood, he stopped all motion, allowing her a moment to calm.
“Are you under control, Kachawli?” Ben asked in a pained voice. Kara could only nod. He started up again, pushing back in her clenching cunt. They both groaned at the vibrations coursing through their joined bodies, each shuddering. He continued to hold her down so that she was forced to take each plunge, each pull, and each pass against the needy flange of flesh. Ben’s head reared up so that Quinn could easily see Kara’s expression.
“Kara, hold on, you need to hold on.” Quinn’s raspy voice exactly mirrored the rasping of Ben’s pubic hair against her clit, sending her even closer to climax.
“I can’t, Quinn. Help me, please, help me,” she cried in desperation, wanting to please her men, but not knowing how to stop the pleasure barreling through her body. Quinn reached out and grasped one of her nipples, pinching hard. The sharp sting pulled her out of her frenzied state. She panted in relief, knowing she could wait, knowing she could now match Ben, knowing she could now hold her release, and match his, as she ached to do.
“Good girl,” Ben crooned as he started to thrust harder, causing even more sparks to fly through her body. She saw that he was just as affected in the wonder that suffused his face, and gloried in the thought that they would soon be reaching the pinnacle together. She reached out her hand, and Quinn knew. He grasped her hand in both of his, and she sighed in relief, needing the connection with both of her men, desperate to know that even in this marvelous moment with Ben, Quinn was joined with them. Then she felt Ben shudder as she began to shake and a great wave washed over both of them as they shouted their release. Quinn brought her hand to his mouth, gently kissing her palm with reverence as the ecstasy blended into the blessing, causing her to cry with joy.
Chapter 5
Present day – Fate Harbor
Kara Johansen woke up the day after her date with Jim Peterson in a less-than-stellar mood. She’d had mixed up dreams where she kept playing with her dogs and having fun, and then Jim would keep interrupting, wanting to give her boring kisses. She finally gave up trying to sleep before dawn and went out the back door to her glass-blowing studio that was set up in an old detached garage in the back of her house. As she made her way out to the studio she gave dirty looks to her dogs, Butch and Sundance.
“You two need to learn to like Jim. You’re going to be seeing a lot of him.”
Butch yipped at her as if he understood.
“Hey, I’m probably going to marry him, even if he isn’t that great of a kisser,” she warned the black-and-gray dog.
Sundance whined. Oh my God, it’s like they actually understand what I’m saying.
“There will be no more treats for either of you if you don’t learn to deal!” she shouted as she yanked open the door to her studio.
She swore they were just like their sire, Redford. The damn dogs could actually understand what was being said, and then there was the added fact that they always reminded her of Quinn, since he had given them to her when they were just puppies.
She soon had the kiln and furnace going, and had her mask on so that she could work with the new silica sand she had obtained. It took her a while to put aside the weird dreams of the night and get into her artist space. When she really started looking at the new product she realized just how excited she was about it. Dmitri had imported it from Poland. Once the glass was poured, she discovered some truly fascinating qualities to the quartz. She had her molds ready. She hoped the samples he had provided were from this same sand. If this was the same sand, it would meld perfectly with the chemicals she had prepared to tint the glass blue, which would then work with the seashell shapes she was planning.
After she mixed up the new batch of glass and put it into the kiln to heat, she checked the vases she had placed in the furnace to temper. She always took the time to reheat her pieces a second time, careful to give them the full and precise exposure and temperature to treat it after its first cooling so that the glass was strengthened. She hated to sell weak glass products to people. She knew that other artists thought it was fashionable to make their glass delicate and breakable, but she thought it was just lazy not to take the time to finish the process and temper the glass after it had properly cooled.
Kara checked the timer on the furnace and realized she could take out the blown glassware. The furnace had been off for over twelve hours, so the temperature had gone from 750 degrees Fahrenheit to room temperature. Finally, she could see and touch her final product.
First, she took out the three bud vases that she had done in a deep ruby red, with swirls that went up and down the vase. The swirls cut through the solid red surface, bringing through more of the clarity of the glass so that it was a mixture of clear and ruby red, making it a combination of clear, yellow, and orange. She loved all three.
Then she took out two tall vases and gave a happy sigh. They were lavender, and they were meant to contain irises. They were perfect. No fancy mixing of different chemicals, just the one beautiful shade of lavender, but the twisting of the glass as she had blown the tall vases was just as she had envisioned, suggestive of climbing vines. They weren’t exactly alike, each a little different because they had been done by hand, but each beautiful. These two would be last-minute entries into her show next Saturday.
She shoved off her mask and gloves and p
icked up her phone to text Trixie, her agent. Kara knew she wouldn’t be up this early. She took a picture of the pieces and suggested that these be displayed with fresh irises in them.
Setting down her phone, Kara went over to the kiln to see how the glass was coming. It was still going to take some time before it became hot enough to pour into the molds she had carved. She was really excited about this next series. She thought it had a lot of promise. The idea had been rolling around in her head ever since the first time she had visited Sitka, Alaska five years ago. The sea life that she had seen in the tidewaters had been amazing, and she’d been refining her sketches for years, until she’d finally hit upon the right abstract viewpoint to capture the purity of the sea creatures. Combining that with the quartz in the glass should take the series to the next level.
Her stomach began to growl, and, checking the time on her phone, she realized she didn’t have much time left if she still wanted to catch breakfast at Hart’s Diner. She hated it when she missed breakfast and had to settle for lunch. A burger was fine, if that’s what you were in the mood for, but it sucked when you really had your heart set on breakfast. She made sure that everything was at safe levels, and locked up the studio behind her. Butch and Sundance were immediately waiting for her.
Butch yipped at her in apology for his earlier behavior, telling her he would do better with Jim. People would laugh that she knew what her dogs were telling her, but she did. Anyway, she accepted his apology and caved.
“I’ll bring you back a treat and take you for a ride when I get home, I promise,” she said as she raced them from the studio toward the house. They beat her to the back porch. She briefly considered looking into a mirror to see if she was presentable, but after checking the clock above the stove, she grabbed the keys to her Bronco instead.
She gave each of her babies a kiss, and they returned the favor before she jumped into her vintage car. At least, she considered it vintage and not “falling apart” like her brothers called it. She hoped that the doggie kisses might have licked some of the sand and soot from her face. Tilting the rearview mirror back, she saw that she now had sand, soot, and dog drool on her face. Nice, Johansen. She reached into the glove box for a napkin to clean up as she started down the driveway toward main road.
Within fourteen minutes, she had pulled into the almost full parking lot of Hart’s Diner and rushed through the front door. The clock was just turning to 11:28 a.m. as she saw Jace Hart behind the open window of the kitchen.
“You missed the time for breakfast. We’re now serving lunch, Kara,” he hollered across the restaurant.
“Not according to the clock above your head,” Kara said, pointing. “I have two more minutes.”
“You have to have your order in by 11:30, and you haven’t even been seated,” he pointed out, still shouting above the din of the other customers.
“I’ll have the lumberjack special and two of Josie’s cinnamon rolls,” she yelled back at him.
“We’re out of cinnamon rolls,” he shouted back.
“Fine, I’ll have the lumberjack, French toast, and I’ll go see if Josie still has some cinnamon rolls. I’ll be right back.” Kara turned to the waitress who had been watching the back-and-forth with a smile.
“Hi, Kara! Do you want coffee with that order?” Karen smiled at her. Kara noticed her friend standing there for the first time, and gave the petite blonde a hug.
“I’m sorry, I really wanted to make sure I got breakfast, and your husband loves to cut me off,” Kara grumbled. Karen laughed.
“Jace would have cooked you breakfast even if you came in at noon, and you know it. He just enjoys giving you a hard time. It’s Dale who would stand by the letter of the law,” Karen said, referring to the other Hart brother.
“That’s true.” Kara smiled. “How in the hell do you ever stay married to them both? I would have killed one of them by now.”
“Oh, they have their uses.” Karen’s smile was positively wicked. “Now, what do you want? Coffee? OJ? Milk? All three?” When Kara just looked at her sheepishly, Karen said, “All three, coming right up. Let me guess. You’ve been up since before dawn, and you haven’t eaten? It’s a wonder that you ever did gain weight!”
“Do you want me to smuggle in a couple of extra cinnamon rolls for you from Sweet Dreams when I come back?” Kara asked Karen, talking about the bakery that was a block and a half away, which supplied Hart’s with all of its baked goods.
“Nah, I’m part of the reason we ran out. I’ve already had my ration of cinnamon rolls. I gotta tell you, I’m going to hate life when I stop breastfeeding. Right now, I can consume as many calories as I like without gaining a single pound.” Karen grinned. “Now sit down and take a load off, I happen to know that Josie keeps a special stash of cinnamon rolls for you and me.” Karen grabbed Kara’s arm, hauling her over to an open booth in an isolated corner. She called Walter over to bring out drinks for Kara and herself.
“Are you sure about the cinnamon rolls? Josie really has a stash, and I don’t need to get over there now?” Kara asked, anxiously.
“Kara, are you all right? You’re acting pretty twitchy. I mean I haven’t seen you on this much of a food binge since last year.” Karen stopped talking as Walter set down all the drinks. He placed two glasses of milk in front of Karen.
“Dale said you needed to drink both glasses, little mama.” Karen rolled her eyes, while Kara gave a tired smile.
“You’re one to talk about being on a food binge. I’ve seen how much you eat,” Kara said defensively. Karen put her glass of milk down and grabbed her friend’s hand.
“Honey, you know I need the extra calories while I’m breastfeeding. Seriously, what’s going on? You’re eating like there’s no tomorrow, and now you’re on the attack. What’s the deal? Is it ‘those who shall not be named’ again?” Walter brought over Kara’s lumberjack breakfast, which took up two platters. She immediately started eating so she could avoid Karen’s question.
“I think I am a little on edge. It’s the show, and…”
“And?” Karen softly prompted.
“I’m bringing Jim as my date,” Kara admitted.
“Wow, that’s big,” Karen breathed. Kara watched as Karen comprehended how big of deal it would be for Jim to meet all Kara’s friends and family at her gallery exhibition. Kara would only bring a man that she was seriously interested in to this important occasion. “I didn’t know he was that special to you.”
“He’s a good guy, Karen. I could do a lot worse.” Kara kept her eyes down, focusing on her food. There was a long silence at the table as Karen watched her finish her meal. When Kara finally looked up, there was compassion in her friend’s eyes.
“So, Karen, you really think Josie has cinnamon rolls stashed away?” Kara asked, yet again. Karen reached across and gave Kara a hug.
“For you, I know she does. I love you, honey. You feel free to call me anytime you need someone to listen. I can’t wait for the show! Dale, Jace, and I will be there. You’re going to knock them dead!”
Kara put a move on as she headed to the bakery. She hoped Karen was right, that, even if Josie was sold out of cinnamon rolls, she had a stash tucked away for her and Karen. She needed a cinnamon roll. She knew she was using food as a crutch, but she didn’t care at the moment. She thought about her conversation with Karen. It was great having such a good friend, but it kind of sucked having a friend who was close enough to see through your bullshit and know your truth. Kara didn’t even want to know her own truth, much less for somebody else to call her on it.
She was so focused on making her way to the bakery that she didn’t hear her name being called. Finally, a hand clapped on her shoulder, and she spun around to confront whoever was accosting her. She kept looking up and up, until she finally reached eyes identical to her own, realizing only one of her brothers would be gutsy enough to grab her from behind.
“Eric, I’m in a hurry. What do you want?” she snapped.
&nbs
p; “Can’t a guy just say hello to his sister?” he asked with a hurt expression.
She turned and continued making her way down the block, and he fell into step with her. “Walk and talk, Eric. Walk and talk.”
“Where are we going?” he asked. “And why are we going there in such a rush?”
“The bakery. Hart’s ran out of cinnamon rolls, and I’m hoping the bakery still has some,” Kara explained.
“Dream on, my sister. It’s almost noon on Saturday. You know they’re sold out.” Kara glanced sideways at her brother and was satisfied that he was giving her a sympathetic look. Otherwise, she’d have to hit him.
“I. Want. A. Cinnamon. Roll.”
“You could learn to bake,” he offered helpfully. This time she did hit him.
“Damn, Kara! That hurt!” She looked over at her six-foot-five, two-hundred-and-sixty-pound, fire-chief brother, and felt satisfaction roll through her. It probably had hurt…a little.
As they made it to the door of the bakery, he grabbed the handle before she could and opened it for her, waving her in first. Inside the pretty green-and-blue bakery, there were five people in line before her. Some of her decorative plates hung on the walls and were offered for sale. She had made sure to supply pieces that would match the interior of the bakery. She saw that Josie was working the front and seemed to be having a lot of fun. It was nice to see. Kara could remember a time when Josie had worked far too many hours, but now that Sweet Dreams Bakery was properly staffed and had built such a healthy business, Josie enjoyed a more balanced work and home life.
“Hi, Eric. Hi, Kara. It’s good to see you both together. Where are Dane and Leif?” Josie asked, referring to the other two Johansen siblings.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Kara answered. “I want to know if you have any cinnamon rolls hidden in back, because I don’t see any in your display case,” she said abruptly.
Claiming Kara [Fate Harbor 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 9
