He could only imagine what the woman might be saying to her cronies at her club tonight...Craig let that thought go, because it stirred an idea. Why, he’d bet that harridan would make up some whopper to tell her friends—if she had any—or even more likely yet, she wouldn’t mention Anna at all!
He wondered how hard it would be to get a list of the charities Clara Cooper supported. He already knew the name of the country club where the Coopers enjoyed membership. He’d talk to Jack about it, but he imagined it wouldn’t be that hard to discover what other venues Mrs. Cooper might be using to prop up her social status.
Craig had a plan. It irked him beyond reason, the treatment his sweet wife had received all these years. Yes, it’s time for a little retribution of the social status kind.
“You’ve thought of something.”
Craig met his brother’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I have. And it’s brilliant if I do say so myself.”
“Good. We’ll talk.”
He wasn’t the only man who’d been trying to get his emotions under control. Jackson loved to drive, and often used the activity to overcome annoyances, be they petty or large.
Craig’s coping mechanism was to make meticulous plans of action.
The sight of familiar scenery pulled Craig out of his musings. The heat and closeness of the woman lightly dozing against his shoulder immediately filled him with hunger. They were expected over at the New House by five—he checked his watch. It was only just past three. They had plenty of time before the planned Christmas celebration for their wife to get a good look at one of her new homes.
Beside him, Anna stirred. He helped her to sit up. She blinked as she looked around. “Where are we?”
“Nearly an hour west of Waco,” Jackson said. “We’ll be home soon.”
“I never asked—but where, exactly, will we be staying while we’re in Lusty? And where will we live in Dallas?”
Craig met his brother’s gaze in the mirror once more. He saw on Jack’s face the same chagrin he felt.
“Well that was forgetful of us,” Jack said.
“It was. Sweetheart, in Dallas, we’ll be living in one of the penthouse suites at Kendall Plaza.”
“Isn’t that expensive? Wouldn’t an apartment—or even a house where your mortgage payments eventually become equity be a more sound use of dollars?”
“Of course it would, if we had to pay for the use of the penthouse.” When Anna just looked at him, he realized there was a hell of a lot he and his brother hadn’t told their bride.
“It’s owned by the family, Bella,” Jack said. “Three of the six penthouses are reserved for family use. Craig and I decided to use one until we got around to making other arrangements.”
“Oh. Well, I suppose that makes perfect sense.”
“But rest of the time, when we’re here in Lusty, we’ll be in the house—not our mother’s house—but our own.”
He knew she was confused. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “We’ll explain the whole thing to you, we promise. But first, let’s get there and unload the car.”
She leaned over and gave him a light kiss. “I’ll hold you to that.” Then she frowned. “How long has it been since you’ve been in your house? I’m thinking that it’s Christmas Day, the grocery store will be closed and there might not be much in the cupboard.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, sweetheart. When the family knew we were bringing our bride home for Christmas, they would have marshaled the troops and seen to it we wouldn’t starve.”
“It sounds like I’m getting the better deal when it comes to in-laws. I’m sorry for the horrible way my mother behaved toward you.”
“So are we, Bella. We’re very sorry you’ve had to endure that for so long.”
Anna looked out the window on the other side of her, but not before Craig saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “I’ve been pretty good at letting her words roll off me in the past. I got beyond wishing, years ago, that she was the kind of mother you saw on television—you know, on the ‘Donna Reed Show,’ and even ‘Father Knows Best.’ But I discovered this morning that there was still a kernel of hope within me that one day—the day that I did the one thing she really wanted me to do, get married—that on that day, there would be a wondrous change in her.” She turned back and her smile right then was the saddest thing he’d ever seen.
“But that hope is dead now, and I have to accept the truth. The fault wasn’t in me at all, was it? It was her, all along.”
“Yes, sweetheart. I don’t know why some people are the way they are, but the fault was, as you say, in her. It was never in you.”
“Well.” Anna got a look on her face that he couldn’t quite interpret. One thing he did know, that look was not self-pity.
“It’s all a choice, isn’t it? Whether you get up in the morning and say, ‘Good morning, God!’ or say ‘Good God it’s morning!’, it’s all a choice.”
“Yes, Bella. It’s all a choice.”
She nodded her head once, as if something had been decided and that was that. She looked at Jackson. “Please hurry, sweetheart. I’m anxious to see my new home.”
“We hope you like it,” Jackson said.
“Oh, I’ve already decided. I love it.”
* * * *
She thought her declaration to be just that—a declaration that would mark her deliberate change in attitude from this moment forward. Her mother seemed to wallow in the negative, an attitude that brought no good to anyone, ever.
Anna decided then and there, she would never emulate Clara Cooper in that way. She would be positive, uplifting, and instead of cutting people off at the knees, she would instead practice the art of being kind.
Whether fate decided to reward her personal vow, or whether it was just happenstance, she discovered, much to her great delight, that she did indeed love the two-and-a-half-story Victorian home that was now hers.
She got out of the car and, for a long moment, couldn’t take her eyes off it. There was a fairy-tale type turret, and an impressive balcony on the second floor that spanned from the center front, around and halfway down the left side of the building.
The front door opened into a neat entrance hall, the floor a beautiful, gleaming hardwood, dark and glossy. The walls had been painted an off white, and the contrast with the floor and the door frames—also a dark, warm wood—pleased her senses.
Craig and Jackson had stood back so she could enter first. She hadn’t been certain what she might find, but seeing the house was furnished confirmed what they’d told her.
“Mother was excited when we told her we were getting married. She and one of our fathers more or less furnished the house from the bounty of things in the family’s storage barn. I’ve been instructed to assure you that if there’s anything you don’t like, then we can replace it with whatever you want. Of course, you’re also free to purchase brand new.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing. This is lovely.” She stepped into the living room. A large leather sofa in a rich brown was flanked by two easy chairs and complimented by glass and chrome coffee and end tables. The high ceiling boasted a light with a ceiling fan. The floor in here was hardwood, too, softened by an area rug in white, pink, and teal.
She continued her exploration. A room off the main hall could be used as a bedroom or a home office. It had been left empty, and Anna knew she’d enjoy deciding how to furnish it. The kitchen boasted new appliances, in avocado. The idea of having her own kitchen made her smile. “Mrs. Moody taught me how to cook, because I asked her to. Mother never knew. I quite enjoy cooking.”
“Jackson’s idea of practicing the culinary arts is to order in pizza,” Craig said. “But I can manage in the kitchen, too. We can work together to make meals while we’re here.”
“Perfect. Between the three of us, then, we won’t starve.” Because she could see the backyard from the kitchen, she wandered over to the door, and then gasped.
“Oh! There’re rose bushes!
” She stepped outside and took in the size of the yard, and the profusion of not only rose bushes but crape myrtles, too. There were other bushes and plants that Anna didn’t recognize, and a fair bit of garden that had been worked up, ready, she guessed, for the spring and new plantings.
“Mother has a very green thumb. She could likely tell you what sorts of roses are here, as well as what all the rest of the plants are.” Craig looked sheepish. “Sorry, but I have no head for gardening, at all.”
Anna sighed. “I’m going to love tending this yard.”
“We didn’t marry you to make a work horse of you, Bella.”
“Oh, this won’t be work, my darling. This will be a joy.”
She hadn’t until that minute understood one very significant benefit to being Anna Jessop. They’d said, before they’d left Las Vegas, that she’d be able to do whatever she wanted to do, hadn’t they?
That meant she could cook when she wanted to and bake when she wanted to. She took one more look at the gardens. Oh yes, she would finally learn how to tend for God’s beautiful bounty the way she’d longed to do for years.
Craig and Jackson followed her as she returned to the house, saying very little as they let her have her look. When she began to climb the stairs, she felt their tension and wondered why they seemed nervous. There were four bedrooms on one side of the hallway at the top of the stairs, but only one on the other.
The answer to the question of her husbands’ nervousness could be found inside the door to the master suite.
Anna was struck speechless as her gaze rested on the enormous bed in the center of the room.
“This is what you could call a family tradition.” Jackson stood on her left, while Craig came to her right side.
“Depending on who’s talking,” Craig said, “this is either a Jessop-sized, Kendall-sized or Benedict-sized bed.”
“It would make the nights spent here much more comfortable than the king bed we were in the last three nights.” She felt her face heating. “Though I must admit I did enjoy having you both snuggled in so close to me.”
“As you will continue to, Bella.”
“The extra room comes in very handy for those hours spent before sleep, sweetheart.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Yes, but only for the next few hours.” Jack sent her a sly look and a wink.
She didn’t care if they thought her a hoyden. She could do nothing about the pleasure that flooded her then. The prospect of spending the next few nights in this bed with these two very virile men was extremely arousing.
“Come and see the bathroom, sweetheart.” Craig took her hand, kissed it, and led her into the adjoining room.
She’d thought the bathroom at the Carstairs to be the most lavish possible—but the one she was standing in had it beat with no comparison. Yes, there was a claw foot tub, but this one was easily twice the size of the one in Las Vegas. The shower was larger, too, with more showerheads than she could have imagined ever seeing in one shower.
And then her gaze landed on the large square tub beside the shower. She could have sworn all her lady bits shivered in anticipation.
“It’s a Jacuzzi,” Jackson said. He walked over and put his hand in the water. “It’s hot, fresh, and ready to....” He let his sentence trail off. Rather than tell her, he showed her by turning on the jets.
“You know when this is going to feel really good, sweetheart?”
Jackson came to stand before her while Craig cozied up behind her. They’d made love every afternoon and every evening since she had their rings on her finger. Anna could honestly say that she loved making love—even if her husbands treated her as if she was made of the most fragile crystal. There were things she wanted to try, but they’d been cautious with her so far.
She did appreciate that, as the first couple of days, she’d ached in certain places.
She ached right now, but it wasn’t the same thing at all. No, she ached with emptiness. Now, laying her head on Craig’s shoulder, she gave them a smile that felt like sex incarnate.
“Mmm, yes I do. After hours of weeding my new gardens.”
“Minx. I can think of one other form of exercise that will breed a craving for water sports.”
“Water sports, is it?” She used her hands, one behind her and one in front, to give her men an intimate caress over the cocks hiding behind the material of their pants. “Why don’t you show me exactly what you’re talking about right now?”
“Yes,” Jackson said. “Why don’t we?”
Chapter 12
Jackson drew her away from Craig, gathered her in, and laid his mouth on hers. Anna’s hormones cheered even as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. Their tongues danced, an oral version of the tango, soft, sensuous, and sexy. She drank him in, savored his taste and savored, too, the way his cock grew, pressed against her.
He lifted his lips from her. His gaze held heated longing, and that thrilled her. In the last few days she’d come to understand that whatever else was happening here, between the three of them—whether this was a forever kind of union, or just a marriage of convenience until she found her footing in life—these men genuinely desired her.
They couldn’t possibly be lying about that.
Jackson brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “When you look at me with desire in your eyes, Bella, you are the most beautiful woman in the world.”
He’d called her Bella from the first day, and she was finally beginning to believe him. Or, more to the point, she believed in the power of his desire. “You make me feel beautiful—you and Craig do that just with the way you look at me.”
Jackson’s smile was slow, but sweet and oh, so powerful. She’d come to know that he was a bit more vague, sometimes, than his twin. Sometimes, she’d watch him at his desk and wonder exactly how his mind worked. His absorption would be absolute, and once in a while his lips would move, as if he was talking to an unseen force.
When he looked at her the way he was looking at her now, vague was the last adjective she’d use to describe him.
Driven. His expression told her he was going to have her and nothing, nothing would stop him.
“Your men need you, Bella. Come and lie with us.”
He turned her so she faced his brother. Craig stood beside the bed, the bedspread already off, a crumpled heap on the rug. He had the top sheet in his hands, and as she watched, he yanked it to the bottom of the bed.
Something about the way he looked at her stirred her excitement. She knew she was safe with both men. Probably too safe, but that was a thought for another time. Yet something in the predatory way Craig looked at her made the feral woman within her tremble, not in fear, she was certain, but in anticipation. Testing her newfound feminine wiles, she sent him a soft smile. “We don’t want to be late for your family’s Christmas dinner.”
“We’re newlyweds in a town called Lusty. Trust me, sweetheart. Being late is mandatory.”
Jackson slipped his arms around her from behind, using his hands to caress her hips before sliding them up to cup her breasts. Sighing in response to the instant pleasure that flooded her senses, Anna lifted her arms and wound them around Jackson’s neck. She noticed the way Craig’s eyes widened in appreciation. Anna had lifted her arms for just that reason. This pose thrust her breasts up and out, pulling the material of her blouse taut.
Her nipples had hardened the moment her men had given her that look of theirs, so she knew the hardened points poked the silk of her top, teasing her husbands in their flirty way.
Craig’s expression turned smoky as he watched his brother’s hands shape her breasts, as he could see the way she reacted to his touch.
A wave of heat swept through her and Anna closed her eyes, an almost involuntary act that allowed her to focus better on the arousal growing within.
Then Jackson began to open the buttons of her blouse. Cool air brushed her skin and Anna had to work at suppressing the shiver that wanted to travel u
p her spine—a shiver of sexual excitement, not cold.
As soon as the last button had been released, Jackson removed her blouse. He must have just dropped it on the floor because in the next heartbeat, his lips caressed her shoulder as his fingers unhooked her bra. Craig plucked the lacy bit from her, tossing it away.
“Your breasts are perfect, Bella.” Jackson used his tongue to taste the flesh of her neck, something that he knew really aroused her. “Plump and soft, and so responsive, I get hard just thinking about them.”
“They’re tasty, too.” Craig leaned forward and captured her left nipple in his mouth. He suckled hard, drawing a whimper from the depths of Anna’s soul.
Jackson’s hands slid around her middle, then returned to her back, and she felt him open her skirt. The material dropped to the floor, and she was left in her hose and panties.
Craig dropped to his knees before her, and mere seconds later, she stood completely naked between them.
That first time, on their wedding night, they’d undressed themselves first. But only that first time. “You like being fully clothed when I’m naked, don’t you?”
“Mmm, there is something about that that appeals to the primitive in me,” Jackson said. “But the truth is we want you so badly, Bella, that if we stripped first, we’d be on you and in you so damn fast it would steal your breath.”
That might not be such a bad thing. “So?”
“You deserve better from us than that. We need to pleasure you first, sweetheart.” Craig looked up. Their gazes connected and she realized he was still kneeling before her. Understanding what he wanted, knowing what was in her immediate future, her juices flowed.
Craig closed his eyes as he inhaled. His action, so earthy, so basic, stirred Anna to new heights of arousal. Until that first time, she’d never understood that lovers did this. Would her men like it if she returned the favor?
Instinctively she knew it was something she’d just have to do. If she asked them, they’d send her more of those mixed signals they seemed to be specializing in, lately.
“Open your legs for me, sweetheart. Let me feast.”
A Very Lusty New Year [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11
