Cool air whispered across her chest as the last of the buttons on her blouse surrendered to Adam’s patient touch. She felt his hands slide around her, and in the next instant her bra came loose.
Firm male hands closed over her naked breasts. It felt so good, Ginny could do nothing but arch into those hands, offering her breasts to him.
She whimpered when Jake ended their kiss and might have toppled to the side if he hadn’t urged her to lean against him.
“You have very pretty breasts, honey,” he said.
“They’re petal soft while her nipples are so very responsive and hard as pebbles. Feel for yourself.”
Adam’s hand was immediately replaced on her right breast by Jake’s. Ginny’s senses felt as if they were about to short-circuit. The men handled her gently but differently, and every stroke, every nuance, seemed to arrow straight to her pussy.
Her arousal kept climbing as they continued to kiss and caress her, yet neither of them had demanded their turn. Guilt crept in. “I want to make you feel good, too.” To do that, and to give back, she rocked her hips, trying to adopt a sultry rhythm as she rubbed herself against the denim-covered cock she straddled and the one pressed against her back.
Her attempt to return pleasure shot hers higher tenfold. “Oh, God.” Who knew it could feel like this? An electric shock of excitement zapped her pussy, traveling on a spasm through her body, pebbling her nipples even tighter and making her panties damp.
“Sweet baby, finally touching you, kissing you, feeling you come alive under our hands is one of the most pleasing things we’ve ever experienced.” Adam moved his hand from her left breast, and then bent forward, just a little.
She felt the heat of his breath just a moment before his lips closed over her nipple. Jake plucked her right nipple with the fingers of one hand while the other cupped her head and tipped it back, moving in for another kiss. Emboldened by his attention and her own needs, Ginny kissed him back with a kind of almost desperate abandon.
“You’re tasty.” Adam’s hot breath caressed her wet nipple and Ginny shivered. Then he returned his mouth to her. He gave her a small nip at the same time his fingers stroked over the cotton crotch of her panties. Then eased the fabric aside and slipped them into her slit. Firm yet gentle, those fingers began to move in and out of her opening, while his clever thumb found and caressed her clit.
Wrenching her mouth away from Jake’s, Ginny inhaled sharply even as she felt herself begin to fly apart. “Oh! Oh!” Her back arched, pressing her pussy into those fabulous fingers as wave after wave of ecstasy slammed into her, a storm of the purest pleasure flooding her body, radiating from her pussy to her fingertips. A keening cry surged from the depths of her soul, pushing everything else away except for the erotic sensations saturating her. Heart-stopping, bone-melting bliss carried her beyond her wildest imagination. Her nipples beaded to diamond-hard points, and deep inside of her she felt her womb contract, pulsing more moisture to coat Adam’s fingers.
Slowly her senses cleared, and she realized she was chilled to the bone and shaking, and her face was wet.
“You’re so beautiful when you come.” Adam gathered her close and then stood with her in his arms. “Hush now, sweet baby. Don’t cry.”
He carried her and she clung to him, unable to stir enough to even be embarrassed. She felt Jake close behind, and when Adam sat again, it was on the sofa in their room. She did move then, not willing to leave Benny alone at all.
“The connecting door is wide open, honey. We’ll hear him if he calls out.”
Of course they would. Ginny sighed and relaxed. Somehow she’d ended up stretched out across both their laps.
She heard a familiar sound, and blinked when Adam held the tissues he’d pulled from the box in front of her for her to take.
“Are you all right, Ginny?” he asked.
“I am way past all right.” She took the tissues and blotted her eyes. Jake had pulled her skirt down, and was gently stroking her legs. Adam drew the panels of her blouse close together, covering her breasts, and kissed her hair.
“I guess it’s been a long time since you’ve had an orgasm,” Jake said.
Ginny sighed. She would dare to be honest, even though her confession would leave her feeling just a little raw. “A long time? I guess you could say that. Actually, that was my first orgasm. Until tonight, I didn’t think I was capable of having one.”
Adam and Jake shared a look that soothed her more than words ever could have done. Then Adam settled her deeper into his embrace, adjusting her so that the two men actually cocooned her.
“Sweet baby, I bet that before long you’re going to find out there’s an entire world of things you thought you couldn’t do, that you can.”
“Damn straight.” Jake’s mouth stretched into the grin she was beginning to really love. “And we’re going to enjoy helping you discover every single one of them.”
Chapter 8
Rarely did Adam give in to the restlessness that sometimes plagued him. When he’d been younger, he’d roamed. He’d gone to college in Waco, as a lot of his cousins had done. But then he’d spent a couple of years just seeing what was out there. He’d spent time in Maine and Alaska—both unlikely destinations for a bred-and-born Texan. But he’d had a thirst for discovery, and nothing to tie him to home.
In this he and Jake were like souls. Jake had done his share of wandering, as well, and had been less eager to return to the bosom of his family than had Adam.
Adam had happily come home to Lusty, of course, because it was home. It had been his center all along, and until now he couldn’t imagine himself living anywhere else.
But things had changed. Now Ginny was his home, and he knew he’d happily go wherever she wanted to live.
He knew Jake well enough to know his brother felt the same way.
The sun awoke, glistening on the ocean. From his position on the deck, he could see two lone souls walking the beach. As he relaxed against one of the deck posts and sipped his coffee, a jeep drove into sight, slowly making its way along the sand, driving north to south.
He was glad to see the borough police patrolling the area. If they were going to stay much more than a few days, it likely would be wise to pay them a visit. Then he thought of Maggie, and the very possible fact that Deke Walters knew about the woman. If that bastard couldn’t find Ginny, would he recall her only relative? Would he be frustrated enough to reach out this far? Adam didn’t really think so, but he wouldn’t take that chance.
Movement behind him told him Jake was awake. Just as he’d left the door to their room open when he’d stepped outside, they’d left the doors between their room and Ginny’s open, too. As he himself had done, he watched Jake go through that door. He’d check on their family, just as Adam had done, before pouring himself a cup of coffee.
When Jake came back into view, Adam met his gaze and Jake nodded.
Adam had been shaken to his core last night. He’d known their woman wasn’t very experienced, sexually. But he never would have guessed the depth of her innocence.
She’d fallen asleep between them on the sofa, and it had been an internal battle for both of them to tuck her into her own bed, instead of one of theirs.
Chivalry was hell.
“They’re facing each other, with almost identical expressions of peace on their faces. They look cute as hell.” Jake joined him at the deck railing, mug of coffee in hand.
“I’ll take a walk in a few so I can check in with Jasper.” Adam didn’t want Ginny to overhear him. Not that he intended to keep any details from her. He just didn’t want to take her out of her vacation mode first thing in the morning. They were half a continent away from that bastard Walters and the trouble he represented. Adam wanted to keep things that way for a while, at least.
“While you’re out you might go hunting for a grocery store.”
“Good idea. It would be nice to be able to make them both breakfast.”
“It would.
I find the air here has increased my appetite.”
Adam chuckled. “For food, too?” He caught Jake’s quick grin in his peripheral.
“After you come back, I’ll take a walk. Check in with Melvin. I want to ask him to reach out to any colleague he may have in this area. When we leave, I don’t want to leave Maggie unprotected. Just in case.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Adam would never take for granted the close bond he shared with Jake. He recalled some of the talks they’d had with their fathers, about what it meant to be a man in Lusty. He guessed this was just the sort of situation that ménage relationships were tailor-made for. Even though he and Jake usually thought along identical lines, it helped sharing the responsibility of protecting their family. Two brains were better than one.
Between them they should be able to cover all the bases.
“Of course you were.” Jake turned his back on the ocean and leaned against the deck rail. “If she decides she doesn’t want to go back to Texas, I’m fine with that. I could handle the Trust from anywhere until we get one of the cousins to take it over.”
Adam opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. He’d heard a step inside. Turning, he smiled when he saw Ginny, looking warm and sleep rumpled, headed their way.
“Good morning, baby.” He opened his arms, and she walked into them. He hugged her, inhaling her scent. His cock began to harden, and he used every bit of his control to prevent it from poking at her.
When she lifted her face, he kissed her, a soft good-morning kiss, a down payment on more intimacies to come. She eased back, and he released her, pleased when she reached for Jake and gave him an identical greeting.
“I fell asleep on the sofa between you last night, didn’t I?”
“Mmm, yes, you did. Not ten minutes into the movie.” Adam had felt her drop off. A few minutes after they’d come in from the deck, she’d gone into her room to change into something more comfortable and had come back in her cotton nightgown and robe and announced she wanted to watch television.
They’d found a movie channel, one playing a classic movie from the fifties, and had settled down to enjoy it.
Ginny hadn’t even made it to the first commercial.
“And you tucked me in. Just like you did Benny.”
Adam laughed. “Oh, no, baby. Not at all in the same way we tucked in our boy.”
“Someday we’ll figure out a way to let you know just how much willpower it took for us to see you safely into your own bed last night,” Jake said.
“I look forward to it.”
He saw enough heat in Ginny’s eyes to understand that, as much as he and Jake wanted her, she wanted them, too.
That was a fine beginning, all things considered.
* * * *
“I said you were a lucky woman. I think I’ll say it again, and mean it this time.”
Ginny looked up over her shoulder and smiled at Maggie. “You didn’t mean it the first time?”
“Well, I did, but for a totally different reason.” She gestured to the edge of the water, and the three males playing with a Frisbee in the sand. “Everything I’ve ever heard had me believing that men generally don’t care for other men’s children. But those two big, burly men love your son, and he loves them right back.”
Ginny turned to look at the way the three of them played together. It struck her as a little odd that Maggie had been able to see, straight off, what had taken her a long time to admit to herself.
“Yes.” Ginny shook her head slowly. “They do love Benny, and they’re his heroes. I am lucky, aren’t I? I never could have imagined them, you know?”
“Because there are two of them?”
“No, because until I met them, people had only ever been indifferent to me, or they were just interested in their own selves. When you’re young, and single, and you have a child, most folks write you off as trash.” Ginny shook her head. “That sounds cynical, and I hate that, but that was my reality. And then I landed in Lusty, Texas, and everything changed for me.”
Maggie sat down next to her on the blanket. “I’m going to have to visit this Lusty, Texas of yours.”
“It’s a good place.”
“I know you’re likely going back there soon. And that’s all right. I think Lusty is your place.”
Ginny turned to Maggie, but didn’t really know what to say to her. Nothing in her life to date had taught her how to have a friend who was also a relative.
She thought of all the women she knew in Lusty. They were friends and related in so many ways it plum made her head spin.
Then she noticed a look of longing in her aunt’s eyes. “Is Wildwood your place?”
“I’m not sure. It’s always been my home. I was born here, went to school here. My mother is buried here.”
“You have the inn,” Ginny said. “You’ve made a place, and a life, with your own brain and your own two hands. That’s something to be proud of. I always worked and paid my way. But I never had a mind to have a business, to create something like that—to make my own place.”
“That’s not true. You’ve made a home for Benny. He’s happy, polite, and smart, and that’s because of you. From where I’m sitting, that’s a hell of a lot more important, and more vital, than owing an aging inn.”
Ginny thought about Maggie’s words hours later. The day had become very mild. After a picnic lunch enjoyed on the beach, and even more rambunctious play including a long walk, Benny was having an afternoon nap. He’d fallen asleep on one of the two blankets Ginny had laid out on the sand for them. A little astounded she wasn’t snuggled up beside her son—the ocean air really was getting to her, too—she instead found herself leaning back against Jake, with Adam close beside her.
A few other folks had taken advantage of the bright sunshine and warm temperatures to enjoy the sand and surf. No one swam. It was still too cool for that even, Maggie had said, by New Jersey standards. But people sat in beach chairs with their sun umbrellas, reading, or just enjoying the view.
Ginny loved the peace of this moment. She didn’t feel she had to do anything or be anything. She loved just sharing the sound of the surf with Adam and Jake.
“Oh.” She’d looked up, out to sea. The sight of a large white ship, slowly sailing past, caught her attention.
Adam and Jake both looked to see what had snagged her interest.
“It’s a cruise ship,” Jake said.
“I know. Isn’t it pretty?” She sighed in appreciation of the sight. “When I was younger, I’d see commercials on television, advertising a cruise vacation.” She grinned. “To me, all the people they showed having such a wonderful time, eating, dancing, going to shows—they all looked like royalty. I used to tell myself that I might be just a foster kid, but someday, I’d go on a cruise and be somebody.” Ginny laughed. “It’s funny, isn’t it, the things you think about when you’re a kid? Boy howdy, I don’t even know if I’d like sailing or not.”
“But that’s the joy of childhood, isn’t it?” Jake asked. “You can be whatever and whoever you want, and reality be damned.”
“Yeah.” Ginny sat and watched the big white vessel move along the horizon. “I haven’t thought of that in years.”
The silence stretched out, a nice silence on a nice sunny day.
“Will you tell us about Benny’s father?” Adam asked.
She thought back, first over the last few months when her life had become so much more than it had ever been. She’d known the brothers Kendall for more than six months, and while she’d been aware of the chemistry between them—and knew they had, too—they’d given her space. They hadn’t asked anything of her, not even the most basic information.
In the beginning, she hadn’t wanted to give anything away. Because I was healing. Now, she wanted to share everything.
“His name is Troy Cochrane. He was some years older than me. I met him at the library, of all places.” She inhaled deeply. “I left my last foster home when I was sixteen, and l
ied about my age to get a job cleaning. The work was mostly at nights—I was with a company that did office buildings. So early mornings were my time. My apartment was too tiny and boring to stay in, but the library, now there was a place of possibilities.”
“I’ve noticed you have a lot of books at home,” Jake said.
“I’d planned to put myself through college, as soon as I figured out what I wanted to be. In the meantime, I read. Anything and everything, but mostly what’s known as classic literature. Do you know that life is pretty much the same in some ways now as it was one hundred, two hundred years ago?”
“I guess people, at their core, don’t change much,” Adam said.
“Exactly.” Though she didn’t often waste her time thinking about what was, or what might have been, for Adam and Jake she let herself go back to that warm spring day.
“I met Troy at the library. I’d seen him there, off and on. He was handsome, well dressed, and he seemed studious. We chatted, a little here, a little there. He’d bring me coffee and we’d go for walks. We’d meet at parks or the mall, and just talk. I’ve always been more than a little shy. I was placed into foster care after I was taken from my mother when I was ten. Growing up as I did, with so many different homes, didn’t make me very self-confident.” She shrugged. Jake had begun rubbing her arms, and Adam had taken her hand in his. She’d been so alone then, but wasn’t alone now.
“I was eighteen and lonely, and naïve, and I never questioned why we didn’t go on regular dates, or why we never went to his place. He paid attention to me, and I fell for that. I fell for him.”
“Sounds to me as if the bastard set out to make you fall for him,” Adam said. “Don’t blame the teenager you were for that, baby.” Adam brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it.
Just that simple gesture eased her tension and helped her to set everything into perspective. She’d always blamed herself for somehow not knowing that Troy was a louse. But how could she have known, really?
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