Their Lusty Little Valentine [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  “Add in the quest she was on to look for a lost treasure that was in this general vicinity…it was definitely fate,” Taylor said.

  “Wait a minute…what lost treasure?” Samantha looked from one to the other, meeting each man’s gaze in turn.

  The men looked at each other and then Preston said, “Grandmother didn’t tell you about that part?”

  “No, she did not.” Lost treasure? Samantha’s mind began trying to figure out what it could have been.

  Preston grinned. “Good. That gives us something to share with you later. In the meantime, let’s continue with our tour, shall we?”

  They walked a little way and then they were on a pretty little cul-de-sac called Park Lane.

  “Wow, that’s a really good-sized house.” Basically Victorian in structure, it was the largest house she’d seen—next to the two family mansions, of course. “Who lives here?”

  “No one, at the moment,” Preston said. “Though there is a large family set to lease it—friends of the Doctors Jessops, who are coming to Waco for a couple of years. The husband is a visiting professor who’ll be teaching at the university. They didn’t want to live in the city, because they have eight children, so this house is perfect for them.”

  “Eight children? Yes, they would need something this large, I would think.” Samantha couldn’t imagine it. A lot of her school friends had been only children, too. Though she did know history and understood that the average family used to be large, but that trend had begun to change when the population shifted from being mostly rural to mostly urban.

  “This building wasn’t constructed to be a private home, although it can certainly serve as one,” Charlie said. “It was built in 1917 to be used as a convalescent home for soldiers returning from Europe. The town opened it and staffed it to help the men coming back from war who’d been gassed and needed the warmer and less humid air so they could breathe easier.”

  “It shames me sometimes, what we humans do to each other.” Samantha had always been one to think of motives and connections and consequences. People could do unconscionable things to each other. She had trouble sometimes wrapping her head around that fact.

  “It’s in our nature, isn’t it?” Taylor said. “And it’s always our choice, whether we choose to do good or not. Whether to return hate for hate, evil for evil. It all comes down to a choice.”

  “Yes, I’ve always believed that most things in life are a choice.”

  “This home was closed in 1930, and then opened again during the Second World War. Sarah Benedict and Amanda Jessop-Kendall had already decided to re-open it and donate use of the building and the cost of running it to the Army, when Gerald and Patrick—two former Eagle Squadron pilots recently repatriated to the US from Britain and about to become flight trainers—saw and then met an Army nurse outside of Washington, DC, and fell in love. They pleaded with their grandmothers, and the next thing that nurse knew, Lieutenant Katherine Wesley was promoted to Major and sent here to be the nurse-administrator in charge of the home.”

  “Kate Benedict!” Samantha couldn’t hold back her shock. “Your great-grandmothers had her sent here?”

  All three of the men looked just a tad sheepish. “Our families have means, and have had since the beginning,” Preston said. “The families, and hence the Town Trust, are actually quite wealthy. Oil, mostly, these days, although ranching and…hidden treasures certainly didn’t hurt. Benedicts, Kendalls, and Jessops have always understood that there was power in money. That’s partly how we’ve been able to shield our town—which is all built on private ranchland and surrounded by even more private ranchland—from outside scrutiny. It’s not the seat of Benedict County, though it is where the lion’s share of the wealth, and power, resides.”

  “We don’t live rich,” Taylor said. “That’s Sarah’s as well as Amanda’s influences, and handed down to us all. It was Maddox’s drive to live rich that landed Sarah in her predicament of being sold into marriage, and it was the desire to live rich that caused an enemy to come after Amanda and try to kill her, too.”

  “Money is power, but it’s to be used carefully, and judiciously. Gerry and Pat were both long in the tooth when they met Kate—well, long in the tooth for Benedicts planning to settle down. And we think they must have been our great-grandmothers’ favorites, because by all accounts those two ladies didn’t wield their power like that very often,” Charlie said. He had such an engaging smile. In fact, none of the Kendall men—and she included the two older generations in this assessment—were without their very charming ways.

  These three could be lethal to any woman’s resolve.

  Samantha set aside that assessment. It didn’t apply to her. No, it didn’t apply to her at all. She was a woman who knew where she was going. Her future had been mapped out, and while it wasn’t perfect, the path she’d set out on when she left New Haven was the path she had chosen.

  Even in these modern, enlightened times, women could not have a successful home life and a successful career, too. Maybe the day would dawn when that was possible. But in the meantime, it wasn’t, and she, Samantha Kincaid, had made her choice.

  But despite her sternest self-talk, the question had been raised and the seeds had been planted. Every time one of these Kendalls met her gaze, her heart tripped and her blood quickened.

  Therefore, there was only one thing for a modern woman to do. She had an entire week at her disposal. She needed to get her attraction to these men out of her system. Passion was overrated, at least she’d always found it to be so. She’d dated, of course, but that initial excitement, that first blush of attraction, never lasted more than a very short time. Mostly, that sense of excitement, of adventure, didn’t make it past the first date.

  That was one of the reasons it wasn’t difficult for her to decide to aim for a career only, instead of a family, or both. She already knew that she wasn’t cut out to have a romantic happy-ever-after.

  Samantha figured a few good tumbles with the brothers Kendall, and she would be ready for her brain to resume control of her body, and her life, once more.

  I don’t know if fate is going to play a role in what comes next, but now that I think back to those moments just before we left the house earlier, maybe my hosts are.

  She’d wondered, that morning, if she was being set up by Miranda, or not. Nick Kendall had intercepted them just before they left for their tour of the town and had given Preston a key.

  “Since you’re going to be out and about, before you check in with Howard at the garage, could you go and have a look at the cottage?” He smiled and included Samantha in the conversation. “Perhaps Miss Kincaid could give a feminine perspective on the newly completed renovations.”

  “Oh, Nicky, what a good idea,” Miranda said. “I just haven’t had time to get out there myself, yet!”

  Recalling that bit of conversation, she wondered if perhaps they were all four of them being set up. She had no idea what the cottage really was, but she figured it was a house of some kind, and that once inside the four of them would have some privacy and time alone.

  Samantha figured even if they were being set up, as long as everyone involved put their cards on the table, there shouldn’t be a problem.

  Hoping she appeared totally guileless, she said, “Oh! Weren’t we supposed to check something out for your parents?”

  “Yes, the cottage.” Preston looked at her. He flicked a glance at his brothers. “It’s not far. We’ll head back to the car, and then drive there next, before we stop in and see Howard about your Mustang.”

  “All right. I’m pleased to be able to do something in return to pay back your family’s wonderful hospitality.”

  “Please, you don’t need to pay us back,” Taylor said.

  “The pleasure is all ours.” Charlie looked as innocent as innocent could be. So did Taylor, for that matter.

  But Samantha saw the truth in Preston’s eyes—and she had a sense he could see the truth in hers, too.
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br />   And she certainly hoped that the pleasure wouldn’t be all theirs. She wanted a slice of pleasure for herself, too.

  * * * *

  Preston couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so hard. He eased the Buick into the driveway right beside the house the family had always called the cottage. Two-story, four bedrooms, it had a pretty front porch with an electric ceiling fan, a lovely open living room, and a nice, comfortable kitchen.

  It also had a very large, fully furnished master bedroom complete with a Kendall-sized bed.

  It hadn’t surprised him that his father had handed him the key and a venue wrapped in an excuse for the three of them to have a place where they could, discreetly, be alone with Samantha.

  His mother’s hearty endorsement of the plan had been a bit of a shock. As they’d been leaving the house, Charlie’s sharp whisper reached his ear.

  “Did Mother actually just wink at us?”

  “Yes,” Taylor said. “Yes, she did.”

  It did something to Preston to know that his mother was actually encouraging him and his brothers to…um…damn it all to hell I can’t even complete that thought in the privacy of my own mind.

  He didn’t want to think too deeply about the fact that if Miss Samantha Kincaid were an unassuming, unsophisticated young miss, that they all—he, his brothers, and hell, two of this three parents—might be guilty of conspiring to seduce her. Not that it was a crime to seduce a twenty-one-year-old woman in these modern times. But still.

  Preston slid his glance over to Samantha as he turned off the car. She must have felt his gaze on her, because she tilted her head to the side and returned the favor.

  Passion lit her eyes, and a look of hunger bracketed her mouth. Preston gave thanks right then and there that the lovely Samantha of the flowing red hair and sparkling green eyes appeared to want them just as much as they wanted her. She was neither unassuming nor unsophisticated, which was another blessing as far as he was concerned.

  His inner imp nudged him and he said, “I think you’re going to enjoy this house.”

  She raised one eyebrow and a smile tugged at her lips. “I certainly hope so. But I guess I won’t know for certain if I’ll enjoy it or not until we go inside.”

  Preston saw, as he looked at his brothers’ faces, that they finally realized that not only had Samantha understood what their parents had done, she was aiding and abetting in the same cause.

  Despite the tension rising within him—and that was, he presumed, mirrored in his brothers—they all three behaved like complete gentlemen. Preston unlocked the door, and held it open. They let Samantha enter the house ahead of them.

  He thought it telling that they followed her inside in birth order. Bringing up the rear, Charlie closed, and then locked, the front door behind him.

  “This is another pretty house that is just sitting empty—though I see it is furnished.” Samantha had walked in toward the living room. She stopped when she came within sight of the stairs. Then she turned and faced them.

  “It’s only temporarily empty,” Charlie said. “Dad mentioned that this house had just been renovated. And it has been, to suit particular occupants.”

  She tilted her head to one side and met Charlie’s gaze. As Preston watched, she looked at Taylor and then, finally, her gaze was all his. “Yes, I remember he said that.” She didn’t appear to be nervous about the fact that they had, in effect, formed a triangle with her in the center. “That would imply that there are going to be people moving in here soon.”

  “There will be, eventually. As I said, the family has always referred to it as the cottage. The New House is where the head of the Kendall family in Lusty lives. The only time that wasn’t the case, was with Great-Grandmother Amanda, in her later years.”

  “She didn’t live in the Kendall family home?” Samantha asked.

  “She was Sarah’s cousin, remember, and the two women, over time, became closer than sisters. After first Adam, and then Warren died, Amanda was heartbroken. She found it hard to live every day in the house she’d shared with the men she loved beyond all reason.” Taylor took a half step closer to Samantha.

  “So Sarah invited Amanda to come and live with her, and that is what she did, spending the remainder of her years right there, living with her cousin, and Grandma Mattie and her husbands, in the Big House.”

  “How did your grandmother Chelsea and your grandfathers feel about that?”

  “They understood,” Preston said. “You see, there’s one trait that all the men of Lusty—be they Kendalls or Jessops or Benedicts—seem to share. And that is the deep-seated desire, bordering on desperation, to make their women happy.”

  “Speaking as a woman, I think that’s a very admirable trait.”

  “We were hoping you felt that way, Samantha.” Taylor reached out and ran his hand down her right arm.

  “Especially since this house we’re standing in is slated to become ours—the three of ours—and that is why it was renovated, and why it is partially furnished.” Charlie caressed her left arm.

  Preston kept his gaze focused on her eyes, so he knew that his brothers’ touches had aroused her. He inhaled deeply and knew she was wet, and suddenly, he felt the urge to simply lay her down and plunder. It was hell getting his better angels to take control.

  “So all that remains is for us to ask you a question, kitten. Are you going to let us make you happy?”

  “How do you know that you can make me happy? You don’t even know what I like.”

  Preston grinned. “That’s the fun part, finding out.” He reached for her and placed his hands on her arms and then slowly drew her closer. “Let’s just see if we can, shall we?”

  Samantha put her hand on his chest. “This isn’t another chapter in the long and happy-ever-after story of Lusty, Texas. This is just us—the four of us—living in the now.”

  Did she think that would deter them? Or that they would demand a commitment before the first kiss, or the first orgasm?

  It was probably a good idea that Preston hadn’t shared with her the one trait the women who belonged to the men of Lusty seemed to share. Not a one of them had been thinking of marriage and a happy-ever-after, either, the first time their men claimed them. Preston didn’t mind, and he was sure his brothers would agree, that they had their work cut out for them.

  It was, after all, how Kendalls did things.

  “Agreed. Now come here, kitten. I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to kiss you.”

  Perhaps the reality of the now just suddenly hit her. Because she put up her hand again against his chest. “Just…how is this going to work, exactly? The four of us?”

  Preston gave her a smile that felt like a whole lot of naughty. “Let’s make a deal. You let us be in charge of what happens in the bedroom—and you can be in charge of what happens outside of it.”

  Samantha exhaled, as if a heavy burden had just been lifted from her. “That sounds reasonable.”

  Preston wasn’t going to give her a moment for anymore second thoughts. He drew her against his body, lowered his mouth to hers, and plundered.

  Chapter 6

  No kiss had ever done this to her before, let alone a first kiss.

  No kiss had ever grabbed her heart and her female parts and pulled her deep the way Preston Kendall’s first kiss did.

  Drowning in desire, sizzling with sensuality, Samantha Kincaid held on to Preston with both hands. His lips and tongue tasted her and drank her and seduced her into an erotic free fall of sexual need.

  The world slid away and time stood still. There was only this man, this kiss…and the other two men who stood beside her, so close but not touching, and yet somehow…connected to the moment, and to her.

  Preston lifted his head. Samantha’s eyes fluttered open—when the hell did I close them?—and she encountered Preston’s heated stare.

  “God help us all,” he said.

  The whispered words whipped a thin line of temper from her, but before she
could react, hands on her shoulders turned her around. Taylor pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her, and lowered his head to hers.

  Wet and wild, his flavor seeped into her, mixed with the taste of his brother to suck her down again, down into a world of sensory delights and undiscovered passion. Hot and hungry, his mouth devoured her, and Samantha could only respond, could only meet his need with her own newly awakened appetite.

  This kiss, too, was over much too soon. But now she understood, and when she felt another pair of hands reach for her, she turned around on her own and stepped close and, this time, wrapped her arms around the man who was about to kiss her.

  “Are you going to devastate me, too, Charlie?” Too late she realized she gave too much away. And then, as Charlie’s smile spread like slow honey across his face, she knew that with these men, she would never be able to hold back anything that was in her heart or on her mind.

  God help us all, indeed.

  “Darling, I certainly hope so. Come here, Samantha. I need to taste you.”

  Raised on the East Coast, a lifelong swimmer, Samantha knew the saying about going down for the third time. No, she wasn’t in danger of losing her life, but she’d already begun to lose something else just as vital to her well-being. She felt her heart begin to shiver and then move and then melt.

  Charlie’s kiss claimed her as his brothers’ had claimed her, marked her just as surely and changed her just as irrevocably as theirs had done. Too aroused to worry, too thrilled to discover that there really was no lack in her, no innate coldness, Samantha gave herself to this man, to his brothers, enmeshing herself completely in the moment.

  Charlie lifted his lips from hers. As Samantha felt the ground form under her feet once more, the heat of two other aroused male bodies pressed close, warming her. Preston and Taylor had moved in so that they bracketed her. She felt enveloped in their strength, submerged in their heat. Rather than feeling trapped, she felt incredibly safe—safe and cherished. Samantha inhaled deeply and wondered if this sensual masculine scent, this powerfully evocative mixture, could be bottled.