“If she didn’t want us to see her, she would’ve turned the damn lock. Ain’t that right, Jenna?”
Interesting. Serena’s Uncle Brogan thought he was already on to her game. Little did he know. “I didn’t notice a lock.”
“You didn’t look,” Brogan accused.
“He did,” Jenna said, nodding at Jules and changing the focus from door locks to bodies. “Did you see anything you like?”
Jules swallowed so hard, his Adam’s apple moved up and down. “Let her put some clothes on,” he bit out.
Brogan obviously didn’t believe in wasting time. Since his brother had arrived first at the scene of the crime, he apparently didn’t want to vacate the premises without a taste of what Jules had already investigated.
Jenna really wasn’t the girl next door some men mistakenly believed she might be. She was a common tease and wore the title proudly for a reason.
Her father had been a cruel man. He’d arranged for her to spend time with a vicious fellow who’d ruined her dreams of a happily-ever-after, a man who’d provided her with quite an education. The lesson learned was one to treasure, one to value. At least after class was dismissed.
Men had their place, but not in her life.
She enjoyed taunting the opposite sex. They needed to know that just because they wanted something or someone, didn’t mean they could have it, regardless of the costs.
Her gaze shifted from Jules to Brogan. Yes indeed, she’d have a lot of summer fun with Serena’s uncles. She loved playing around, even though the effort was all strut and no sway.
By and large, she seldom found worthy players to even run the ball onto her field. This little Tennessee trip was the exception. She could already see the next thirty days turning into a month of good times.
Since she still held an attentive audience, she dropped her clothes, snatched a robe, and gave her hips a good shake as she marched to the bathroom. “I’m taking a shower. Serena, will you see if your uncles can let me have a little privacy?”
Serena laughed. “If you do that again, I guess I’ll have to excuse myself and give the three of you a little space.”
Brogan grunted. Jules sniffed.
Apparently they thought so.
Jenna crossed her arms over her chest and fiercely shook her head. Her hair tumbled across her shoulders and down her back. She turned slightly. “We won’t need much, Serena. Will we, boys?”
Jules’s eyes misted over with a screen of lust so thick, his appreciation of her pooled at the corners. “You’re trouble.”
“Want me to spell out how much of it I can bring?”
Serena started pushing them out of their room, laughing and shaking her head. “Dad will string you up like Momma strings green beans.”
“Better be careful, Jenna. Heath seems to think of you like a daughter. He looks at you and sees a child. All I’m seeing is one hundred percent woman,” Brogan said.
Jenna slammed the bathroom door. If Jenna pegged Brogan and Jules about right, then Serena was in for one hell of a lecture.
She spotted a radio on a nearby shelf. No sense in eavesdropping. She touched the dial and found a suitable station. Then, she cranked up the hot water, stripped off her lower half, and danced right into the large tile-covered shower.
* * * *
Brogan wrapped his large hand around Serena’s wrist and pulled her down the hallway toward the study. Jules stayed directly behind them. Serena realized they weren’t too pleased with their current arrangement, but she couldn’t empathize. She brought Jenna with her so she wouldn’t sit around all month and worry about her mother.
“Serena,” Brogan began, “I’m asking some of our friends to keep Jenna. The two of you can see one another during the day but—”
“No, Uncle Brogan! You don’t understand. Jenna isn’t what you think.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure she is,” Jules jumped in, making his way to the wet bar.
How funny, Serena thought. He needed a stiff drink after the way Jenna worked him over. Serena wanted to laugh outright as he nervously fumbled with the decanter and then the lid covering the ice bucket.
“She’s the definition of what we don’t need living under our roof,” Jules continued.
“Why? Do you have a girlfriend? Are you afraid she’ll be jealous?”
“No, and you’re missing the point,” Brogan said. “What kind of gal just drops her top like Jenna just did?”
“One with a lot of confidence?” Serena suggested. “Oh good grief, it’s not like the two of you haven’t seen boobs before. What’s the big deal?”
Jules worked his jaw, evidently determined to chase away a smile. “I’m not married. I’ve never seen a woman’s body parts before.”
“Liar,” Serena said, giggling.
Brogan took a deep breath. “Jules, knock it off. Serena, we can’t have our niece’s best friend running around this place topless.”
“She wasn’t strutting around anywhere. We were in the bedroom and Uncle Jules opened the door and barged in without asking.” She smiled at Jules. “He didn’t have to stay. A gentleman would’ve walked away.”
“Serena,” Brogan said firmly. “That girlfriend of yours is dangerous. She has big ideas for us. I can see the mischief in her eyes.”
Jules rubbed the ball of his hand over his chin. “And big boobs, I saw those with my own eyes.”
Brogan took the high road. “Jules, let’s focus on scolding Serena and laying down some ground rules.”
“Oh stop it, Uncle Brogan. And Uncle Jules? Jenna has big ideas for everyone. You’re nothing special. She knows you’re my uncles. She wouldn’t make a play for either of you.”
Serena wasn’t so sure about that.
“Oh no?” Brogan asked. “Then what do you call her little prance toward the shower?”
“I call it an invitation,” Jules translated.
“You would,” Serena snapped. “Dad told me about the parties you two have out here. I’m not a kid anymore, and Jenna isn’t either.”
“Oh, that’s one thing we’re clear on,” Brogan replied. “She’s also a complete stranger to us, Serena. We can’t have beautiful women parading around here without their clothes.”
“We never had a problem with it before,” Jules pointed out.
“I’m sure you haven’t. So you shouldn’t have one now. Besides, I give you my word, the only time either one of us will be without our tops will be poolside. How’s that?”
Brogan set his jaw and Jules dropped his. Okay, so the topless sunbathing was out of the question. She read their expressions without a lot of extra effort.
“Serena, you’re not sunbathing on our patio without a swimsuit covering all distinct body parts. Passerby traffic might stop and gawk,” Brogan said.
She let out a truly exaggerated sigh and walked over to the window where she immediately drew the shades. “You live in the boonies, Uncle Brogan. No one can see your pool from the main road.”
“We never know who might stop by,” Jules said.
“Knowing the folks who probably frequent this place, I’m sure you get a whirlwind of traffic. I bet gals of all shapes and sizes run in and out of here, not to mention the men who bring them here. As your niece, I wouldn’t want to give off the wrong impression and ruin your fine and upstanding reputation.”
“Here, now. Watch your little trap,” Brogan said. “You remember who you’re talking to. No sass, Serena.”
No sass? Good grief, they still thought of her as a little girl with pigtails who made them play with her baby-dolls. Too bad they never counted on her showing up with a life-size doll just for them.
“Serena, your daddy told you too much,” Jules said, scratching his neck.
“No. Truth is, I overhear a lot. Don’t worry,” she assured them, patting Brogan’s arm and then squeezing Jules’s wrist as she made her way for the door. “Jenna’s not a problem. Give her a chance. You won’t even know she’s on the place. Besides, if it’ll
make you feel any better, Jenna is a virgin. She might give a few teasers, but she never gives away the pudding.” With her last comment, she fled the study in a rush.
* * * *
Jules glared at the door like the wood represented a new enemy.
“Jenna is fucked,” Brogan said.
Jules turned up the whole bottle of liquor rather than replenishing his glass. “Without question.” A beat later, he added, “And so are we.”
“Yep, I’m afraid so. We need to consider plan B.”
“Your first notion is out with the wind. We stood in the doorway gawking when we should’ve been ashamed to look with Serena standing right there in the room.”
“Let me remind you of who brought her here,” Brogan said. “Serena knows Jenna has her own agenda. And you know what? Serena may just get what she’s wishing for. I’ve changed my mind, Jules. I plan to pursue her little friend so hard and so deliberately that she’ll beg to stay somewhere else.”
“Not if I have a say in this matter.”
“You don’t,” Brogan said. “A damn virgin is sleeping under our roof.”
“Yeah, and I kind of like the idea.”
“You would.”
“I have a way with virgins. And that one upstairs will make training a true joy. She’s a sweet little innocent princess with enough spunk to make a fella pay attention.”
“Uh-huh, and if you find a way to keep her tied and bound somewhere out of sight, your plans might work without the first hitch. Otherwise, forget about it. Our niece isn’t the same little girl she was when we last saw her. She’ll sneak around until she finds her BFF if Jenna goes missing.”
“Don’t worry about Serena. Jenna will keep her in check. Then, Serena will turn the other cheek and look away. Serena knew what she was doing when she invited Jenna here. And I swear to you, I’ll know what I’m doing when little Miss Jenna finds her denim shorts balled around her ankles.”
“Jules, for God’s sake. At least let her get settled in before you go and deflower her.”
“I may give her three days. I may even leave you here with the two of ’em while I go to the Cattleman’s Association Meeting in Nashville.”
“Like hell you will.”
“What’s wrong, Brogan? Can’t handle seventy-two hours with a couple of young ladies?”
“If you want Jenna to stay a virgin, I suggest you sit tight and the two of us work together to stay out of that gal’s pants.”
“I’m not interested in staying out of ’em,” Jules replied. “I’m only concerned with where she’ll leave them the first time I make her step away from ’em.”
Chapter Two
“I need a breast reduction,” Jenna mumbled to herself, dipping her toes into the cool blue water. Serena left hours earlier with Brogan and Jules. They needed to pick up something at the cow outlet, or maybe they called the place a feed store. She couldn’t recall. It was too early to pay attention to particulars when they’d left.
Best she could remember, they asked Serena to run around with them so they could introduce her to some old friends. One thing about it, they sure were proud of their niece.
She tried to remember what time they said they’d come on back but all she recalled was Brogan coming in and shaking her. When she rolled over and stared into his dark eyes, she’d watched the flash of sudden arousal. He’d meant to wake up Serena and instead found her.
He didn’t look too disappointed and she enjoyed watching his skin blush as he’d tucked the flannel bed sheets against her side, something she later decided she’d enjoyed. Brogan was a handsome thing, and she liked rolling over to him first thing in the morning.
Brogan made bad boys everywhere proud with his chestnut hair cropped right below his ears and brown eyes that actually matched his hair color. His body, while perfect from a woman’s standpoint, wasn’t without a few scars. He carried a small defect on his lower right cheek. Another jagged pattern marked his left forearm, something she’d noticed when he’d pulled down the coverlet earlier that morning. The blemish was about the length of a television remote control.
Jenna knew all about scars. Those Brogan wore were sort of like a badge of honor, the kind that assured anyone who saw him that a knife once sliced his skin and he lived to tell about it.
The original wounds had apparently been deep enough to leave their mark behind in his eyes and Brogan possessed beautiful eyes. They were hazed over by deception though, a dark, hidden desire only a woman had the ability to find, if she dared.
Thinking about Brogan and the way he looked at her made her knees knock together. Jenna reached behind her back and worked to untie her bikini top. She stopped, listened, could’ve sworn she’d heard footsteps, and then loosened the strings, briefly revisiting her short encounter with Brogan.
“Don’t do it.”
Startled, she quickly turned around. Her palm flew to her chest. “Jules, I didn’t know you were here. I thought you left with Serena and Brogan.”
“And I thought you slept until after twelve. Serena said you didn’t get up early.”
Jules approached with caution. He wore light denim jeans and a tan belt. His body was bronze. His abs—dear God—were defined, cut to a woman’s liking and it was obvious, by the beads of moisture across his chest and belly, he’d been working for the better part of the morning.
Studying the pool, she said, “Serena knows I’m up with the chickens. I’m afraid I’ll miss something.”
“Is that right?” Jules asked, straddling one of the large lounge chairs. Seated across the middle, he folded his arms behind his head, acting as if he were there to soak in the rays.
He looked like a god, and Lord help her, she was green with envy. What she’d give to be that cushion right smack dab under Jules, even if she provided him with a seat and nothing more.
She fluttered her feet beneath the water’s surface. She watched her legs move, feeling his intense gaze piercing through her body.
She suddenly possessed unfamiliar thoughts loaded with big ideas and soaring ambitions, but not enough experience to encourage a forward pursuit of a man like Jules. “I have a lot of energy. Even Serena has a hard time keeping up.”
“Imagine that,” Jules drawled, rubbing his chin. “So you and Serena have been best friends for a long time, huh?”
“Yeah, we have. Her family…” She paused, realizing Jules was part of Serena’s family. “Her parents, that is, have been really good to me.”
“Heath and Fiona are fine people.”
“They’re like my own flesh and blood.”
“But they aren’t. I mean, I don’t want to be cruel or anything, but we’re not related, you know.”
Her gaze met his. “I know, Jules. I also understand why you and Brogan keep reminding me.”
He slowly licked his lips, dragging the pad of his thumb over the shape of his mouth. His tongue had likely been the undoing of a good woman or two, even though she wouldn’t know—at least by past encounters—what to do with a tongue like his.
“So tell me about you and Serena. When did you meet the apple of my eye?”
Jenna laughed. “She’s gonna love hearing she’s grabbed your fruity attention.”
“She’s always had it and she knows this. Brogan and I adore her. We don’t have kids of our own, so we used to rob Heath of his.”
“Heath’s a bit older than you though. You still have time to have a houseful of your own.”
“Sure, I guess. Maybe before I’m thirty, I’ll have a parental urge to populate the earth. I still have some time. Besides, I never found a woman who interested me enough to keep around for making babies.”
She gulped and stopped kicking her feet all at once. Realizing she’d halted her movements, she made a sudden splash and started kicking like she was trying to participate in a strenuous water aerobic workout.
Opting against sharing the details of her friendship with Serena, Jenna focused on Jules. She found little reason to discuss her pas
t when the immediate future looked more enticing.
Jules reached under the long chair and adjusted the angle of the lounger. Crossing his ankles, he tucked his hands under his head once more. The cowboy hat topping his head slid down over his eyes. He never bothered to push it back up. “Sure is a pretty day.”
“It’s supposed to be in the upper eighties. I heard the weather report on the radio this morning.”
“Uh-huh,” Jules muttered. “We’re in for a hot summer.”
A scorching day, too, if she didn’t stop gawking. Jenna quickly reminded herself of her philosophy about men. They had their places. She was put on earth to make sure men like Jules remembered that.
Instead of giving her motto merit, she thought about Jules and wondered what it would feel like to have his thick arms wrapped around her bare belly and his cock pressed against her thigh. She imagined her arms around his neck, his lips traveling over her own.
Gasping for a breath, she dove into the water headfirst. Why on earth had she thought she could take on a man like Jules in the first place?
She’d never given much thought to finding her cake and eating it, too. Typically, she enjoyed licking off the icing and placing the slice back on the platter.
“Brr,” she cried out through gritted teeth when her head popped out of the water.
He sat upright. “Cold, huh?”
“Freezing,” she replied, bouncing around in the water with her arms looped around her middle.
Jules narrowed his gaze. “Damn it,” he growled looking across the patio and then back at her chest. No mistake about it. Jules likely wanted to see what kind of evidence her body provided. She was cold all right and her nipples spiked with proof.
She was also aroused. His heated gaze only made her more certain of his appraisal. He didn’t have a bit of control.
Maybe she should hide temptation. She bent her knees and knelt in the water. He stretched his neck as if he needed a better view.
Blaine, Destiny - Domination Plantation [Southern Plantation 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 3
