“I’m sure that everything is wonderful,” Ginny said.
She looked as if she was about to say something else, but his mother just kept on talking and walking.
“Boys, do you remember those summer cookouts Northrop used to throw here, and with all you kids, there’d inevitably be a baseball game?”
“With him as the only umpire, and always awarding the smallest of us home runs,” Jake said, “earned or not.”
“I remember.” Adam laughed. “Those ‘safe’ calls used to cheese us off, and he’d just laugh and tell us to man up.”
“Good times,” his mother agreed.
“It sounds like this is a home that’s known a lot of love,” Ginny said.
“Yes,” Samantha agreed. They’d reached the bottom of the veranda steps. “The house has known some tragedy, too. Northrop’s wife passed here, just five years after they wed. He never stopped mourning her.”
Ginny turned to look at his mother. “It’s a lot of house, Samantha, much more than I’ve ever dreamed of living in.”
“Now, sweetheart, you’ve been here long enough to know that most things in Lusty are just exactly that—more than one would imagine, and more than anyplace else.”
“Yes, ma’am. That is something that I do know.” Ginny inhaled deeply, and then looked down at her son. “Well, Benny Rose, what do you say we go inside and take a look at our new house?” She stopped and looked at both Jake and his brother, then back down at her son. “You can go on and run ahead. Get someone inside to show you where your bedroom is. But mind you don’t break anything.”
“All right!”
Jake could see the excitement bubbling inside Benny, who wasted no time pounding up the porch steps. The screen door banged behind him, and Ginny only sighed and shook her head.
Jake’s mother laughed. “Oh, my, that brings back memories. Just imagine, Ginny, having
five
sons running and slamming!”
“You’re truly a remarkable woman, Samantha Kendall,” Ginny said. “For myself, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee, if I had five sons, that there wouldn’t be murder.”
Jake knew he wasn’t alone in hearing the wistfulness in his mother’s voice when she said, “Neither could I, sweetheart. Neither could I.”
* * * *
Ginny felt as if she’d spent the entire evening inside one of those wind tunnels she’d seen on a television show, once. All around her Kendalls and Benedicts and Jessops had been rushing to and fro, putting her things here and there, filling the cupboards with food, and stocking the linen closets with supplies.
There’d been pizza brought in from the place out by the interstate, and Benny had gleefully discovered that one of his classmates, Paul Sanchez, lived right next door. Music and laughter had filled the house, and with so many people and so much sound, the place hadn’t looked all that big at all.
Ginny Rose was nearly one-hundred percent certain that had been the plan all along.
Benny had crashed around nine, which was a bit later than his school-night bedtime. Morgan had been the closest when Ginny had discovered his tuckered-out little body asleep in the recliner in the front parlor. The big man had merely picked up her son and carried him for her up the stairs to his new bedroom, one of three smaller rooms across the hall from the master suite.
She made quick work of getting him into his pajamas and tucking him under the blankets. She shook her head when she realized someone had thought to bring his treasured Transformers blanket and put it on his bed. He’d turned onto his side, reaching for and finding his favorite toy, Mr. Tusks. The stuffed blue walrus had been a gift from some kind soul all those months before, when her baby had faced that first night in Lusty without her.
She left him asleep, and went back downstairs to join her guests. She and Jake and Adam all made regular visits upstairs to check on Benny.
Her little man had slept on without even stirring once.
Now the last of the family had left, and the house seemed very large and very quiet. She walked from the front door, where she’d stood until Samantha and her men had driven off, the taillights of their car lost from sight. She shook her head as she realized there wasn’t so much as a paper plate or plastic cup left for her to clean up.
And not a single male Kendall in sight.
Ginny closed and locked the front door, and turned off most of the lights. She left one burning in the parlor, in case Benny got up in the middle of the night.
Her baby wasn’t used to having stairs, and she wanted to make sure they were visible in the darkness.
She made her way up those stairs now, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. She felt excitement, and anticipation, but not fear. Even though she had no idea what would happen next, she did know one thing.
Months before when she’d escaped Deke Walters, she didn’t believe she’d ever be able to let a man touch her again. Now she wanted two of them to lay their hands on her.
At the top of the stairs she turned toward the short hall and stopped. There, standing together, were Adam and Jake Kendall. With identical poses, hands in pockets and backs against the wall, they kept their gazes on her and waited.
Benny’s room stood between them, and at the door of each of the other two bedrooms was a large duffel bag.
“We want you to know that what happens next is up to you.” Adam’s slow, deep cadence touched her skin like an electrified feather, sending tiny tingles of excitement everywhere.
“We both want very much for you to share that room, and that bed, with us.” Jake’s tone, equally thrilling, came just as quietly.
“But if you’re not ready for us, sweetheart, we understand. We’ll each take one of these bedrooms and sleep here every night, until you are.” Adam’s words sounded like a vow.
“You can absolutely say no to us, Ginny, if you want to.” Jake didn’t even send her one of his coaxing smiles, so she knew he meant every word. They both did.
She knew them to be honorable men, and she trusted them with all that she had, and all that she was.
Ginny had made some mistakes in her life, but she’d come to know that just about everyone did, and she’d forgiven herself for most of them. She was a stronger woman than she’d been the first time she’d come to this town. Stronger, and smarter, and yes, a whole lot happier.
She knew exactly what she wanted, and exactly what she needed. And even though another woman might take the next step tentatively, she intended to jump in with both feet.
They said it was all up to her, but they were wrong. She needed one more thing from them both.
“Is that all you have say?” she asked. And then she waited.
Adam straightened slowly and took his hands out of his pockets. He took one half step toward her, and then another. Then he stopped, because he now stood side by side with Jake.
“No,” Adam said. “There is one more thing. I love you, Ginny, with all my heart, forever.”
“I love you, Ginny.” Jake’s gaze met hers. “I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
Ginny inhaled, unsurprised to feel her throat tighten, and her eyes burn with her unshed tears. Except for her baby, no one had ever said those words to her before.
“I still don’t know if I can really satisfy you both. I don’t know if I can give you forever. I’m not there yet, and that’s on me, not you.
“But I love you both more than I thought I ever could. I love you, and I need you. I need you with me and on me and in me.”
“Then come here, sweet baby. Let’s go to bed.”
Chapter 12
Ginny couldn’t stop herself from trembling.
Adam had taken her hand, so she knew he felt the tremors that shook her. Then as she came flush with him right there in the hallway outside her son’s bedroom door, Jake moved in close behind her. She knew he felt her trembling, too.
Adam led her into the master suite, the only room she hadn’t ventured into as yet. Her first sight of the bed, as large as the one out at Kelsey, Matt, and Steven’s farm, just made her heart speed up even more.
“You have to know we won’t hurt you, sweet baby,” Adam said. Stopping close to the bed, he turned and faced her. Then he smiled, a slow, sweet, and sexy smile, and began to draw her closer to him.
Since closer to him was exactly where she wanted to be, she went.
“I know you won’t.” She tugged, and he released her hand. Stepping just a bit closer still, she gently placed both hands on his shoulders.
“Mm, then why are you shaking, honey?” Jake’s question brushed the shell of her ear. The heat of him standing snug against her back warmed her. She could feel evidence of both their erections pressing against her body, front and back.
There could be no doubt whatsoever that these men were aroused by her. They wanted her, and wasn’t that a wonder?
She licked her very dry lips, and felt a little thrill when that simple act seemed to affect them both. She went up on her toes, leaned forward, and placed a gentle kiss on Adam’s lips. Then she lowered herself back down, and tilted her head back toward Jake.
Understanding her silent demand, he bent and brushed a light kiss across her lips in turn.
“I’m shaking because I want you both so very badly. I’m shaking because this is the most important moment in my life, and I don’t want to mess it up.”
“You’re not afraid, then?” Adam bent down and kissed her, a sweet, gentle press of his lips on hers. When he withdrew, he used his tongue to lick her lightly parted lips, as if he needed to taste her.
“The only thing I’m afraid of is that I won’t be able to please you, and you’ll be disappointed with me.”
“That will never happen, honey.” Jake’s hands rested on her shoulders, and she could feel the tension running through him as he used his thumbs to knead her muscles there.
It was the first clue she had that they were all in the same place, in a state of hunger bordering on desperation.
“We’ve both wanted you so badly for what feels like forever, honey. Adam and I have loved the small tastes you’ve allowed us, but we’re both at the point that it’s hell not having you completely. We’ve both had the devil’s own time all evening not scooping you up and bringing you here and having you.”
Ginny gasped. Could it be true? Adam and Jake were each so much more man than either Troy or Deke could ever hope to be. Could she really have inspired such want in them both? She opened her mouth, but Adam shook his head. Then he bent to her and kissed her lips again, lightly.
“Hush now, sweetheart,” Adam said against her lips, “and let us show you just what you do to us. Let us show you how very much we want you.”
He cupped her face and kissed her, a wet and wanton kiss that thrilled her to her toes. Ginny opened her mouth to him and rejoiced when his tongue caressed hers in a provocative dance. Her hands came up, and she held on to his wrists, wanting nothing more than to ensure that he stay right there, that he would continue kissing her.
At the same moment Adam began to withdraw his lips from hers, Jake turned her into his embrace. She lost one set of lips only to receive another. Exchanged one heady, arousing flavor for another and felt herself falling further under the spell of these two dynamic men.
“I’ve never hungered like this, just from a kiss,” Jake whispered against her lips. “You turn me on like no one ever has.”
Her head back, her mouth being consumed by Jake’s heat, Ginny felt so joyous, she wondered if she’d died and gone to heaven. Then Adam caressed her breasts through her blouse, and she knew that this was very much a worldly experience.
She wanted more!
A slight draft played across her chest as Jake’s tongue continued to tangle with hers and Adam’s gentle, competent fingers worked to open her blouse.
The last button gave way, and Adam eased her arms out of the garment. Jake ended the kiss and looked down at the same instant Adam removed her bra.
They stared at her bared breasts with such intensity, her nipples puckered. Adam looked up, met her gaze, and grinned. He used the back of his hand to brush back and forth beneath her left breast, and she shivered as delicious arousal coursed through her, touching off tiny fires all along her nerve endings from her breasts down to her clit.
She clenched her inner muscles, an almost instinctive reaction as her horniness grew.