Love Under Three Valentinos [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  She received everything.

  Emotions intertwined with the physical sensations, making them stronger, more exciting, more thrilling. The scent of all three men, the sound of their labored breathing, and the heat from all three of them—their bodies pressing against her, their cocks pressing inside her—took her to a place she’d never been.

  Unable to pull her climax to her, she couldn’t hold it off, either. Arousal grew, spiraled beyond her ability to control, and exploded into an orgasm so fierce she wondered if she wasn’t about to lose her mind.

  As Wes and Lucas both groaned, as their cocks began to pour into her, she felt the first stream of cum hit the back of her throat. Kat sucked, and fucked, and knew, in that moment, she was finally whole and complete. She belonged to three very demanding and endlessly giving men.

  She was the luckiest woman in the world.

  * * * *

  Kat hummed with pleasure as heat surrounded her. She lay sprawled on top of Wesley, his hands stroking softly up and down her back. Paul lay on her right, her hand clasped between his two. On her left, Lucas held her hand against his chest.

  They’d bathed her and massaged her, and now she was snuggled down, parts of her touching all three of her fiancés.

  Nothing had ever felt as right to her as the love they’d made together, right here in this bed. She didn’t have to wonder. She knew that love—her love for them and theirs for her—was the key ingredient that made everything more than right.

  Love made all that life could be perfect.

  And because it did, she could say anything and knew it would be all right.

  “I’m kind of in a quandary.”

  “About going back to work?” Lucas asked.

  “Yeah.” She guessed she shouldn’t be surprised that he’d know. He really got her. They all did.

  “I don’t know if I really want to be a fugitive recovery agent anymore.”

  “Kitty-Kat, you can do whatever it is you want to do. But I have a question for you.”

  She turned her head so she could see Paul’s face. “Okay. What’s your question?”

  “Is it that you have lost interest in your career, or is that you’re afraid?”

  She could feel the heavy pounding of her heart and knew that Wesley would feel it, too. She nearly demurred. Then she shut her eyes for a moment and called herself an ass. She would begin this relationship as she meant for them all to go—with complete honesty.

  “When I think about going back...chasing someone down...I break out in a cold sweat. I never felt this kind of fear before. I know we talked about it earlier. But I don’t know...” She really couldn’t finish the thought.

  “You need to get back into fighting trim, first,” Wesley said. “You’re not fully recovered yet.”

  “We’re going to help you do that, babe.” Lucas kissed her hand.

  “Like I said, you can do anything you want to. If you want a new career, then you have to know we’re behind you one hundred percent. But here’s the thing, love. You need to get back up on your horse, first. If you quit now, under these conditions? There may come a day when you will regret it—and possibly resent us for allowing it. I can’t deny that we’re a bit scared for you when you’re working. It’s a dangerous job, not without its risks.”

  “No, I would never resent you for a decision I made.”

  “Emotions can be tricky things,” Wes said.

  “First they can trick you into making wrong choices, and then they may trick you into wrong assumptions.”

  Kat exhaled. Damn it, they were right.

  “So let’s get you healed and then back up on that horse. And then, if you want to look for a new career, we’ll be right behind you. But Kitty-Kat, you have to get back up on that horse, first.”

  Kat wanted to huff, and growl, and pick a fight—all knee-jerk reactions she’d used in the past whenever anyone got too close or dared to tell her what she should do. But those reactions had no place here, with these men. Because, as much as it galled her to admit it to herself, they were absolutely right. Not only were they right, they had the right to tell her like it was. They’d earned it with their love.

  “Okay. But I really am going to need your help to do this. I think it’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do.”

  “We’ll be with you all the way,” Lucas said.

  “You wouldn’t be able to shake us loose if you tried.” Wesley’s deep voice under her ear reverberated through her entire body.

  “You’re the heart of us, love,” Paul said. “We’ll never let you down.”

  Kat thought that, as much as their words were designed to bolster her confidence and feed her resolve, they served another purpose, too.

  They had sounded very much, to her, like wedding vows.

  Chapter 20

  “You keep looking at me as if I have spinach caught between my teeth.”

  Paul grinned. Unable to stop himself, he reached out and ran his hand down her right arm. “You don’t. I’m just trying to reassure myself that you’re ready for this.”

  Kat rolled her eyes at him. He raised one eyebrow in return. There would definitely come a time when that cheeky gesture would net her a good, sound spanking. But for right now, he’d give her a pass.

  But only because he knew he was being a little obsessive.

  “Your cousin the doctor says I am.” Kat’s expression lost some of its cheek, and he understood that she understood his concerns.

  Paul nodded. “I know. But you might as well get used to the fact that I am always going to worry about you.”

  “Wait until one of us gets a scratchy throat,” Lucas said. “Big brother, here, can worry about all of us, and do a really good job of it, too. We call him Mother Hen.”

  Paul turned to look at his middle brother. Lucas wore a teasing grin, one that Paul felt definitely mocked him. “You’re not helping, you know.”

  Lucas chuckled. “I know. But Kat’s ready for this. And Wes won’t hurt her.”

  It was Kat’s turn to send out a stare. Wesley hadn’t come into the gym from the change room yet. Kat put her hands on her hips.

  “He’d better not be planning to go easy on me. I need a good, solid practice.”

  “If you expect him to beat on you, babe, you’re in for a disappointment.”

  Ah, Lucas doesn’t look quite so mocking now.

  Kat rolled her eyes at Lucas, and it was all Paul could do not to laugh out loud. His brother wore the exact same expression Paul knew had been on his face just moments before.

  A spanking was definitely in their woman’s future. He had the distinct impression she’d enjoy it.

  Then Wes emerged from the change room. Paul bent down and placed a chaste kiss on Kat’s lips. Lucas did the same, and then they stepped back, giving Kat and Wes room to work.

  This was their second time meeting each other mid-floor, bowing, and then going through warmup exercises. Wesley led, calling out patterns. Paul had never studied any of the martial arts, nor had he spent much time watching them being performed, either. Except for when Wes had been entered into competitions when he’d been a teen. Then, of course, he’d gone to support his womb mate.

  He and his brothers weren’t identical triplets, and that showed not only in their appearances but also in their different interests and hobbies. And yet, where it counted, they were as one, and the most important area where that was true was their love for Katrina.

  The warmup exercises over, Wes and Kat began to spar. All four of them had just put in a half-hour on the gun range—something he and his brothers had let slide a bit over the years they’d spent in California. After target practice, where they’d been soundly shown up by their woman, Wes and Kat changed into their gis.

  Unlike that pivotal day a couple weeks before, there was no script for today. The agenda held one item, just some hard-core training.

  Paul worried about this, even though he knew intellectually that Kat’s bruises had h
ealed, her stitches had been removed, and Robert had given her a clean bill of health two days before. Kat had been given the green light to resume normal activities.

  For Katrina Lawson, they soon learned, normal activities meant regular workouts, regular runs, and sparring.

  Today, it didn’t take long for Paul to see Kat held her own against his youngest brother.

  For the last couple of weeks, she’d been working out in their in-home gym. Her routine consisted of not just Pilates but weight training and running as well. Wes and Lucas were both more into the weight training than he was, so they’d spotted her and worked with her in that area. Paul preferred Pilates and running. They’d started out slow, but it hadn’t taken any of them long to realize that Kat was in good physical shape, and when she trained, she trained hard.

  There wasn’t room at home, though, for this—sparring practice that would keep Kat in top condition for those times when she needed to be able to face off, one-on-one, against whichever fugitive she pursued.

  The loud smack of a body hitting the mat jerked Paul’s attention to the center of the gym floor. Wes was flat on his back and breathing hard. Kat was also laboring for breath, but on her feet, and with a grin on her face.

  “Okay, fine, you’ve convinced me. No more Mr. Nice Guy.”

  Kat nodded. “You’re not doing me any favors taking it easy on me, sweetheart. One of the guys at Sully’s, the gym where I usually go in the city, is bigger than you, and he gives me all he’s got. Yes, I’m going to get bruised and banged up a bit. You have to know that’s inevitable. If it gets to be too much, I’ll let you know. I promise.”

  Paul didn’t have any trouble interpreting the look on Wes’s face. His brother didn’t like the idea of really going at it with Kat, the way he would with one of his own male training partners.

  Chivalry could be, and often was, hell.

  Kat extended her hand to him, to help him up. And Wesley, true to his word, stopped holding back.

  Kat’s eyes widened in surprise that he would take her hand, yank hard, and pull her off balance and toward the floor. But she recovered quickly, turning the tactic Wes attempted into a summersault. She landed on her feet and spun to face a now standing Wesley. She immediately let loose with a very fast, very deadly looking punch-kick-punch combination.

  The sound of her delighted laughter filled the gym and lifted Paul’s heart.

  Even as he watched the two really get into their match, he let his mind center on his woman. He knew she’d been talking to Cody Harper. The two of them had met a couple of times, once at the restaurant and once they’d gone off for a walk together when he, Greg, and Rebecca had come for supper.

  Paul also knew she hadn’t completely conquered her problem, but she slept better at night. She’d only had one nightmare in the last six nights.

  That was progress.

  Paul put his attention back on Kat and Wesley. He winced when his brother connected with her shoulder and, again, when she got a jab in at his gut.

  “Now who’s pulling their punches?” Wesley was breathing hard, and sweat poured off him. They’d been at it for a solid hour.

  “Well, if I can, I will, same as you. No need to hit hard when I get past your defenses since getting past those defenses is the goal.” Kat blotted the perspiration from her brow. “But I think I’m done for the day.”

  Those were the words they’d all been waiting to hear. Paul grabbed a towel from the stack on the shelf, bent to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water, and then headed for his woman.

  She accepted both gratefully, blotted away the sweat, and then hydrated.

  “How did that feel? Not just physically but emotionally?”

  Kat met his gaze. “It felt good. No shadows of what happened, so that’s a plus.” She looked at Wesley. “I felt it was a solid workout.”

  “It was.” Wes accepted towel and water from Lucas. “You’re not favoring your side any more. I couldn’t, in fact, find a weak spot.”

  Kat grinned. “Not bad for being inactive for a couple of weeks.”

  “Babe, it’s time to think about your next step.”

  Lucas stood with his hands in his pockets. Wesley had pushed her during that first sparring match, hoping to get her to acknowledge her problem. Now they all three were going to nudge her to, as Paul had called it once already, get back on her horse.

  The longer she put it off, the harder it would be.

  Paul saw the hesitation flash briefly in her eyes, but then she nodded.

  “I need an update, first. Did the cops figure out who attacked me? And what progress has been made with regard to finding the sniper?”

  Kat looked at each of them in turn. Paul sensed the struggle within. She wanted to do this, but she wasn’t one hundred percent certain that she could.

  Paul leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. This was the first time she’d asked about the course of the investigation since that initial meeting with Adam and those private detectives. “Okay. Let’s get Adam and Mel and Connor over to the house. They can tell us what’s happening.”

  Kat sighed. She stepped closer and laid her head on his chest. “That sounds like a plan.”

  Paul knew this was only the first step in what would be a multi-layered plan. Hopefully, with so many practical and creative minds on the job, the plan they eventually came up with would be solid.

  * * * *

  This would be the easy part, the planning. Kat would listen, and then she’d decide. All in the safety and comfort of the living room at home.

  Actually executing the plan would be another matter. Just thinking about it, about coming face to face with those three thugs again, made her insides quake with fear. So she shut that away, for now. She’d take it one step at a time.

  Home. As they waited for their guests to come inside, Kat looked around the high-ceilinged, glass-and-rock house the brothers Jessop had built. This was home, but she didn’t mean the building, or even the town of Lusty. It was these men. They were her home. She loved them with every fiber of her being. They loved her, too, and her confidence in that fact alone gave her a measure of confidence for whatever would come next.

  Smiling at Sheriff Adam Kendall was easier than it had been. It generally took her a while to get over grudges, and she certainly had held one against the lawman who’d threatened to lock her up.

  Of course, in hindsight, she’d been able to see things from his point of view. He hadn’t known her from—she pardoned her mental pun—Adam. He’d had no idea if she could be useful in the takedown of Ricky Wilde, or if she was a complete screw-up whose presence would serve only to complicate the already dicey situation.

  Adam came into the room, removed his hat, and nodded to her. Connor Talbot and Mel Richardson followed behind the sheriff, but they weren’t the last to enter. Kat did a double take because close on the private detectives’ heels came Anna Jessop and her own mother.

  “Mom! Anna!” She looked around the room. “It’s nice to see you. But, um, we’re about to have a meeting here.”

  Edna Lawson came over to her and gave her a hug. “Yes, Katrina, we understand what’s about to happen. Anna and I don’t want to be in the way. We just want to be in the loop.”

  Anna nodded and gave Kat a huge grin and a hug as well. “That’s right. We’ll just sit down right here. Why, y’all won’t even know we’re in the room.”

  Kat thought for a moment that Adam would protest the presence of the older women. He seemed like the kind of man who not only liked to be in control but who also believed strongly in “need to know.”

  That last was a mindset a lot of lawmen shared.

  But he just sent Mrs. Jessop a kind smile, nodded to her mother, and then turned his attention to her.

  “I spoke to Detective Bannister on the phone before driving out here. He said his snitches looked about ready to tell him who your three assailants were, and then they all developed amnesia. Likely, whoever that new gang boss is flexed
his muscles to keep them quiet.” Adam shrugged. “The man would have to make a number of ballsy—er, bold moves to ensure the loyalty of his numbers and to quash any remaining protests to his takeover.”

  Katrina sighed. “I’m not surprised. I didn’t realize that particular bit of South Los Angeles had a new honcho. What I knew of Los Príncipes was that no one would necessarily challenge me grabbing one of their own off the street, especially if he was one likely to draw an intense police hunt, otherwise.”

  “Detective Bannister was filling me in a little on the ins and outs of the various gangs in his city. I’m a small-town sheriff, but even I know gangs are growing problem everywhere. I already knew a little about Los Príncipes, as one of their Dallas members lived here for a time and tried to kill my brother-in-law, Peter.”

  “Oh!” Anna’s face turned just the slightest bit pink. “That was that cheeky little Manny Ramirez. Stayed with his aunt and uncle here in town. They took him in to give him a new start in life. He certainly didn’t repay them very kindly. Poor Portia and Joaquin were just devastated that he tried to hurt Peter and Tracy!”

  Adam nodded. “They were, indeed, though it certainly wasn’t their fault.”

  “You do your best with children,” Edna Lawson said, nodding in agreement. “But as they become adults, they’re responsible for their own behavior and their own bad choices.”

  “Exactly.” Anna patted Edna’s hand, and then she turned to Adam. “I do apologize for interrupting, Adam.”

  “It’s all right, Aunt Anna.”

  Kat decided then and there that she really liked Adam Kendall. He’d just given Anna Jessop a look of sweet, sweet affection.

  “Our associate in LA had better luck than Detective Bannister,” Mel Richardson said. He shot a grin at Adam. “Often times the private sector can go where the public sector dares not.”

  Adam chuckled. “No argument here. It’s why I had you arrange for surveillance up in Abilene when we were looking for that...person who’d abused our Ginny.”