The three grooms, who Hank and several others had referred to as “the bears,” were lined up, talking quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the wedding ceremony to begin. All three exuded strength and confidence that Travis imagined made them exceptionally good at their jobs.
The scent of late-blooming antique roses hung in the crisp November air. The guests gathering for the ceremony chatted quietly as they found spots up and down the rosebush-lined walkway and in the central area at the end of the path. He and Hank nodded to several acquaintances as they backed up and made room for those who were not as tall to stand in front of them. He’d grown up in Divine but had never known that this rose garden, near the creek that ran through the center of town, had even existed.
Hank nudged him and pointed at a group making their way to the front. “There’s Grace and the guys.” Travis admired the blonde and grinned and nodded at Jack Warner when he caught his eye.
Jack was carrying a couple of white folding chairs and was escorting a petite, white-haired lady. Mrs. Owen had aged since the last time he’d seen her. Her formerly jet-black curls were now snow white, and she had a decidedly fragile air as she thanked Jack and sat down on the chair he’d placed near the front for her. Hank had told him that the ceremony was to be brief, allowing more people to fit into the garden if they stood, although seating was being provided for those who needed it.
Travis noticed that Mrs. Owen blew kisses to all three of the grooms, who came forward and each kissed her on the cheek before returning to their positions. Travis had learned long ago to respect a man only after he’d gotten to know him, but he definitely respected those three men for their kind treatment of that lady.
Grace was having a conversation with another elderly lady, who looked to be in her nineties, and Travis chuckled when he heard the stately lady say, “I’ll be fine, Grace. You looked a little puny this morning. Why don’t you sit in the chair, sweetheart?”
“Grandma Kate, the afternoon will be tiring for you. Won’t you sit, please?”
“Oh, very well, but only if my little Rose Marie sits with me.”
“I want Nanny Kate!” a little girl with glistening blonde ringlets chirped from Adam Davis’s arm where she currently perched. She faced Adam and put her tiny hands on his cheeks. “Please, Daddy Adam?” She puckered up for a kiss.
Ethan burst into laughter as Adam rolled his eyes and nodded at her before giving her a kiss.
Hank snorted and said, “They’re gonna have a hell of a time when she’s sixteen.”
Travis chuckled. “You hoping by then you’ll be retired?”
“Hell yeah. Can you picture me trying to write that little gal her first speeding ticket? She takes after her charming mama.”
“Manipulative, you mean?” Travis couldn’t honestly see that in what he could recall of Grace’s demeanor.
Hank frowned and shook his head. “Not at all. Thing is, all Grace has to do is look me in the eye and I do whatever she asks. Matter of fact, I’m supposed to be talking to someone for her this afternoon, if I get a chance. An author friend of hers.”
“Research on law enforcement for a book?”
Hank gave his head a tiny shake as he scanned the crowd. “No. It’s about something else. Private. She’s supposed to be here with Grace.”
Travis surveyed Grace’s little group as the area filled to capacity and people began lining the upper level near the retaining wall of the garden. He spotted Grace again and then his eyes were drawn by a brunette who stood in the shadows near the woman they’d referred to as Grandma Kate. She gulped nervously and her eyes darted around the thickening crowd as the time for the ceremony drew near. Something about her was familiar. He stared at her as he wracked his brain. He was normally good with names and faces, but her identity evaded him.
Ethan and one of his friends, a giant with long black hair, separated from the crowd and it was then that Travis noticed they both carried guitars, and another guy joined them and sat in a folding chair with a small, rawhide-covered drum. They began to play a soft melody with a hint of Spanish guitar, which he recognized but couldn’t quite place.
A flurry of activity at the entrance to the garden drew his gaze and Hank said, “Maizy and her dad must be arriving.”
“He’s walking her?” Travis didn’t need to be told that George Owen would’ve been dead set against anything that might infer his approval of an alternative lifestyle. The guy was all about appearances and status in the community.
Hank smirked. “She wore him down. I’m telling you, Trav, the women in this town have got skills. I’ll bet that’s who Grace wanted me to talk with,” he said, gesturing with his chin across the way, to where the brunette was located. Travis could sense her nervousness as she glanced around, her hand resting over her throat, and noted how pale her complexion had grown. She took a deep breath and then removed her smartphone from her purse and focused her attention on it.
“Do you know her name?”
The brunette adjusted her glasses daintily on her nose as Hank replied. “Last name is Benedict. She’s related somehow to Grandma Kate.”
Benedict? He turned to Hank, then glanced at her again, then back to his friend. “Veronica Benedict?”
Hank looked his way and nodded with a smile. “Yeah, I think so. You know her?”
“I’ll be damned. Yeah, from way back. She grew up.” Holy hell, did she grow up.
Travis noticed that Hank’s gaze was now riveted on her. “Pretty, too. Hmm.”
“What did she want to talk to you about?”
Hank leaned close and whispered, “Dominance and submission.”
Right then she looked up, as though she’d somehow overheard them, which was impossible, and made eye contact with Travis. Her pale lips parted in surprise and then a beautiful flush filled her cheeks, restoring her color somewhat. Seeing that change in her gave Travis an inordinate feeling of accomplishment. It had tightened his gut to see her looking so uncomfortable earlier.
Grace whispered something to Veronica as she smiled and gestured to Hank. Travis’s cock tingled as he watched her react to whatever Grace said and her eyes swung back and forth between Hank and Travis. She bit her lip as though her nervousness had returned and then she tilted her head, staring at Travis with questions in her eyes.
Her eyes were the color of cinnamon, complementing her dark hair, was actually a rich shade of auburn when the sun came out from behind a cloud. The strands glistened as though they’d caught fire.
Risking a chance that Hank and the rest of the people around him would think he was crazy, he joined his hands together and imitated a bird in flight. The smile on her face damn near blinded him.
“Well, now, Fishcop, that was an interesting exchange. You know each other?”
Travis nodded and was about to speak when the tempo of the music slowed and then swelled in volume slightly, giving a nonverbal signal of the bridal party’s approach.
Someone shushed him as he tried to ask Hank how this wedding ceremony was supposed to work with all three guys up there, so he contented himself with watching. Carrying a bouquet of red roses, Maizy’s older sister Rhonda made her way forward, followed by a little blond-headed boy of about six who must have been a member of the family, bearing the wedding rings.
Travis stifled laughter when he noticed little Rose Marie reclining in Grandma Kate’s lap, looking bored until the little boy passed by. She promptly sat up and stuck her tongue out at him. Grace admonished her daughter but Travis saw it when the little boy made a funny face at Rose Marie and then winked at her. She rolled her eyes, unimpressed.
“See what I mean?” Hank asked as he chuckled.
A gorgeous brunette amazon that Travis was damned sure he would’ve remembered if he’d ever met her followed along behind them at an unhurried pace. The bridal party lined up on one side of the minister, balanced by the three men to the officiant’s left.
I see. This way, the two grooms standing next to the
tallest of the three will blend in for those guests that maybe don’t understand the true nature of their relationship. He imagined that must be uncomfortable for the other two guys but he couldn’t tell because their attention was riveted on a point in the distance.
Murmurs filtered through the crowd and Travis caught his first glimpse in years of little Maizy Owen, all grown up. Her eyes glowed with happiness as she was escorted through the throng.
He glanced over at Veronica to check on her and was relieved to note that her previously pale color and nervousness seemed to have settled. He wondered what had inspired her earlier anxiety. Maybe he’d have a chance after the wedding to ask her before Hank got her all to himself. Her eyes found his in the crowd and she blushed again before focusing on the bride approaching on her father’s arm.
Maizy looked stunning in her antique lace wedding gown and veil. Her father smiled and patted her hand as he helped her along the path which was slightly uneven in places. Travis knew the exact moment she caught sight of her bears because jubilance shone in her eyes and she looked as though she wanted to run to them.
Judging by the smiles on her men’s faces, it was true what Hank had said the previous weekend. She had them wrapped around her fingers and they looked like they were okay with that.
He felt a tingle across his chest and glanced Veronica’s way, only this time his attention was captured by the elderly woman Hank had referred to as Grandma Kate. She was gazing at him and Hank, and she looked inordinately pleased. He smiled back and winked, drawing an appreciative chuckle from her before she turned to watch the processional. The smile remained on her lips.
Travis cupped his hand over his lips and whispered to Hank. “Whose grandma is Grandma Kate? Do I know them?”
“It’s a long story. Kate’s sort of adopted Grace and some of the other girls and their families. Remember I told you about that dustup a couple of months ago, involving three women who were kidnapped?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not the only—”
An older woman turned to them. “Shhh!”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Travis said and grinned at her, drawing a forgiving smile from her. She put an admonishing finger to her lips before turning back to the ceremony.
He and Veronica played cat and mouse with their eyes. Every time he’d glance at her, her gaze would flitter away from him and she’d blush.
He hadn’t seen her in eleven years. Back then, she’d been barely graduated from high school and about to go off to college and he’d been thirty years old. He’d felt a little like a perv for being attracted to her. But she was a grown, beautiful woman now.
His cock tingled as the crowd shifted slightly and he got a glimpse of her curves, clad in a shin-length, form-fitting red dress. Her legs, what he could see of them, were shapely and lush, narrowing to trim ankles and dainty feet, clad in matching red pumps. He glanced up and caught her watching him and Hank. He tried not to frown when she drew back, purposely positioning herself behind Grandma Kate and adjusting her glasses again.
“Shy,” Hank murmured softly, and Travis realized that he was watching Veronica, too. If it had been any other man, that knowledge might’ve sparked jealousy in him. Instead, it simply brought a smile to his face as he responded.
“For now.”
* * * *
Veronica’s heart was rapping in a syncopated frenzy as she looked between the two handsome men gazing at her from across the grassy walkway. She swallowed convulsively, trying to get her heart rate under control, though for an entirely different reason from just a few minutes earlier.
Grandma Kate beckoned to her. Veronica stooped to hear and Kate whispered, “Grace said the ceremony is supposed to be brief, sweet girl. It won’t be much longer.” Of course Grandma Kate would be able to tell how anxious the crowd was making her. Knowing that Kate understood her unease helped a little.
Her anxiety level had increased with each new person that had joined the crowd standing in the open space at the end of the walkway. The rose-scented setting was idyllic and her rational mind had acknowledged that, while at the same time trying to formulate an exit strategy in case a panic attack struck. With each additional body, her options had dwindled until she had been left with the reality that she was trapped. It was then that she’d looked across and had laid eyes on the subject of nearly every sexual fantasy she’d entertained since the age of eighteen.
Travis McDaniel, in the flesh. The heart-pounding, sex-personified flesh.
He smiled at her again, a smile that couldn’t be mistaken between a man and a woman, and her heart responded with another whoop-whoop and her panties went from damp to drenched in the next heartbeat. She shifted her gaze to the utterly sexy man with silver sideburns standing next to Travis. Sweat broke out all over her body, gluing her knit dress to her at the sensual warmth in his gaze. Grace had identified him a few minutes before as the man she would be talking with later about her research into domination and she’d gone weak in the knees.
What were the odds that two such masculine, handsome men would both look at her like that?
Surely I’m hallucinating.
The crowd shifted and the men’s eyes traveled up and down her form in a way that left her fevered and more than a little self-conscious. Unable to bear the scrutiny of her less than appealing frumpiness, she moved to shield herself from their gaze.
Please, guys, let me have the fantasy a little longer.
Her hand shook as she repositioned her eyeglasses and turned her attention to the wedding.
She’d had a greater purpose in coming to this event. A ménage wedding—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She needed to soak up every second of it for later reference.
The bride was glorious in a dress that Grace had told her had also been worn by the bride’s mother decades before. But beyond the beauty of the dress, the happiness in the bride’s features was palpable, nearly ethereal, as she neared her grooms, one of which she would be wedding legally in this ceremony.
Veronica watched the grooms as they gazed at their bride and tears stung the backs of Veronica’s eyes at the nonverbal way they responded to her. The “official” groom, Cody, the tallest of the three with long wavy black hair, looked at his bride with heat in his eyes that was nearly palpable, his eyelids going to half-mast in a way that Veronica found utterly transfixing.
Veronica had learned that the three men had known each other most of their lives, and had grown up together in the foster care system and considered each other as brothers.
Next to Cody stood Heath, who exuded an irresistible sex appeal. Veronica found his pale green eyes to be especially noteworthy. She wondered if she’d have the guts to ask him for a quick photo opportunity after the wedding, and immediately doubted it. She’d just have to commit their pale green color to her memory.
Heath grinned and his eyes took on a decidedly mischievous twinkle as he watched Maizy approach. Chancing a quick glance at Maizy, Veronica noted the fresh blush deepening in Maizy’s cheeks.
As the bride proceeded, the guests moved in behind her, filling the aisle, insulating the wedding party from the world outside in a way that Veronica found surprisingly easy to tolerate. She wouldn’t abandon this moment, no matter how anxious she felt.
A sort of euphoric fullness welled in Veronica, replacing the nerves, as the part of her that was inherently a writer wished for the chance to press “stop” on the moment so she could jot down some notes.
Continuing her perusal, Veronica was struck by the emotion in the eyes of the third groom. His warm, golden-brown eyes were slightly bloodshot and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Veronica’s heart tripped as she realized he was holding back tears at the sight of his future wife, and she was surprised when a tear trickled all on its own from her eye, in empathy for a man she hadn’t even met yet.
Moments like these she’d learned to guard with all her heart, for preservation later in the written word. She’d met very few people who wo
uld truly understand how she felt. She knew this because she’d been teased unmercifully since a young age for feeling everything so strongly. It had been a blessing when she’d finally discovered a creative outlet for that soul-deep sensory input in writing.
The wedding between Maizy and Cody proceeded, their hands clasped as they said their vows.
Veronica noticed as Maizy spoke that although she was addressing Cody, all three men’s body language responded to her words. It was fascinating to watch, yet she felt for Heath and Spencer, who were undoubtedly holding back their true feelings for the sake of the guests present who weren’t fully aware of all the facets of Maizy’s relationship.
A fresh wave of heat flowed over her which she at first attributed to the emotions of witnessing the intimate ceremony. But her gaze was drawn once more to the distractingly handsome men across the aisle, only to discover that they were no longer standing where they’d been earlier before the crowd had shifted.
The tumult that had been simmering inside her flared into a bonfire as she sensed the crowd repositioning behind her. Curious, she turned her head and looked up into Hank’s pale-gray eyes, shadowed with concern, and then into Travis’s mahogany-brown eyes. They’d moved to stand close behind her—both of them. She trembled when she felt Travis’s hand slide around hers. The grasp felt so comforting she had to fight the urge to lean against him.
Eleven years. She responded to him this way after eleven years.
A silent gasp escaped her as his other hand slid in a caress from her shoulder, down her spine, to her waist and she heard his slow, almost imperceptible inhalation near her ear and a soft groan.
He’s sniffing me?
He squeezed her hand and she realized she’d tightened her grip on him. Loosening her hold, she looked up at him but found that he was watching the ceremony with a smile on his face. She faced forward again and caught Grace watching her, eyes twinkling with mischief, from where she stood with her men, next to Kate. Veronica knew that look because she saw it on Kate’s face often enough. A disgruntled murmur rippled through the crowd behind her, distracting her from the ceremony again.
Awakening Veronica [Divine Creek Ranch 17] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5
