Defensive and closed. Those were the best words to describe Deke. Oh, the offense came through, but that was his defense. He wasn’t just morning crabby; she knew him well enough to know that he liked mornings. He hadn’t been troubled by anything last night. He hadn’t been troubled until he’d gotten a firsthand taste of how feminine she wasn’t.

His instinct had been to refuse her request. Now he was probably kicking himself for letting her and Luc manipulate him into this arrangement. He was probably thinking it was going to be the longest two weeks of his life. Her brothers often congratulated her on being one of the few females they knew who could contain their emotions, but the unruly things snapped up and bit her now. And she felt wretched. Hurt. She hated it.

“Fine. I’ve got nothing to say, either. Be an asshole. As long as you’re a good tutor, I don’t care.”

Kimber stood and waltzed past Deke, toward the exit.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down damn near into his lap. “Kitten, I’m going to be the best tutor you could possibly imagine. Don’t you doubt that.”

“Glad to hear it.” She yanked free of his grip. “I’ll respect the fact you don’t want me to talk to you when we’re not in bed, as long as you don’t touch me unless you’re teaching me. So until tonight, you leave me the fuck alone.” Deke hesitated, a bitter smile lifting the corners of his mouth. “Kitten, that’s the best idea you’ve had since you walked through that door.”

Dinner passed in silence, despite the fact Luc had grilled damn fine pork chops and brushed them with a delectable maplecranberry glaze. Luc shrugged off the chilled silence. The army had taught Deke to eat anything—mess hall grease, MREs, the side of a raw goat—as long as it kept him alive. Luc’s palette was a bit fussier.

And Kimber… The way she darted venomous glares at Deke through the meal told Luc that she and his cousin had exchanged unpleasant words earlier that day.

And the way Deke watched her told Luc that his cousin’s hunger wasn’t going to be sated by scrumptious pork or the blackberry-peach crisp he’d baked earlier.

Behind his napkin, Luc smiled. Cross words aside, everything was falling into place perfectly. Time to add a little fuel to the fire…

Luc reached across the space separating him from Kimber and caressed his way up her arm, which was bared by a small spaghetti-strapped tank top. Then he brushed the back of his knuckles over her cheek. Hmm, soft. So sweet. And so pissing Deke off, a slanted glance in that direction told him.

“More salad, sweetheart?” Luc asked.

“No.” She relaxed enough to smile at him. “I’m stuffed. With all your wonderful cooking, I won’t fit into my pants soon.”

He leaned in to steal a slow, gentle kiss right on her lips, still tasting faintly of the tangy glaze he’d prepared with the meal. Across the table, Deke tensed. His fork clattered to his plate. Luc ignored him.

“With the two of us around, you really don’t need pants. Isn’t that right, Deke?” Luc curled his hand around Kimber’s naked shoulder and softly stroked her, all the while watching her nipples peak under the little white shirt and his cousin’s gaze heat dangerously.

“Is everyone done eating?” Deke barked, standing, hovering over the table.

Kimber pushed back and shot Luc an uncertain glance. Worry; he saw that in her gaze. Uh oh, what the hell had Deke said or done to put her on edge?

“That’s up to Kimber. We can sit for a bit longer, if you’d like, sweetheart.” Deke tossed down his napkin. “If you want your tutoring tonight, kitten, it’s now or never. I’ve got better things to do than sit here and chat.” Luc registered Kimber tensing under his hand. Oh, the fireworks are about to begin.

“You’ve made that clear. I don’t want to be a bother to you. Maybe I should just follow Luc down the hall to his room. You can…run along.” Chin held high, Kimber stood and, despite wearing a fatigue-print mini skirt and a tank top sans bra, breezed past him as regally as a queen.

The stunned look on Deke’s face was priceless. His cousin spun around and followed Kimber down the hall. Luc scrambled to follow them. He wanted them riled, but not so furious they’d fight, rather than fuck.

Kimber nearly made it to Luc’s bedroom door before Deke grabbed her, shoved her back to the wall, and covered her body with his. “I promised we’d teach you all about ménage, kitten. That means three. I’m not going anywhere except to bed with you.”

She opened her mouth to protest—no, more likely to issue a scathing retort—but Deke preempted her with a scorching kiss, covering her mouth with his, invading and devouring. Hell, just the sight of them turned Luc on, especially since he could see Kimber’s tense rejection changing and softening with every lash of Deke’s tongue against hers. She moaned when one of his cousin’s hands sailed down her back, curled around her ass, and lifted her hips right up to his.

No doubt, Deke wanted inside her—bad. Perfect.

He tore his mouth away, but his body still covered hers, drilling her into the wall.

And he stared, panting as if he’d run twenty miles. He didn’t look away.

Luc forced his way between them and put an arm around each, filing them through his bedroom door. “Let’s go inside and get comfortable and naked so we can enjoy ourselves, shall we?”

Around him, Deke shot Kimber a tense stare. What the hell was going on?

“Sweetheart, is that okay?” Luc asked.

Her gaze skittered to him before going to back to his cousin. At that point, her skin was flushed, her nipples like enticing hard candies. Luc did his best to focus on the long-term goal, rather than rushing Kimber out of her clothes now.

She visually clung to Deke, eyeing him with reluctant hunger. With every moment that passed in thick silence, Deke grew more tense. Very interesting…

“Okay,” Kimber finally whispered.

That one word was all it took to send Deke into action. He snaked a hand across Luc’s body and reached for Kimber. One arm he wrapped around her waist and brought her against him. The other he used to push the spaghetti straps off her shoulders and shove the garment down her torso. Leaving her breasts and rosy, swollen nipples bare to their gazes. Luc had been hard before, almost uncomfortably so. This pushed him firmly into unbearable territory.

Deke looked back at him with eyes so burning with sexual need and frustration, they were damn near glowing. “Now.”

His cousin couldn’t wait to touch her and wouldn’t waste his time stating the obvious. And as much as Luc enjoyed savoring a woman, something about Kimber and the way Deke responded to her simply didn’t allow for the sort of cool distance that made patience possible.

Instead, Luc sent his cousin a terse nod.

As he approached, Kimber gasped, her eyes wide and dilated. Hesitation stamped her face, but need followed, as if sensing it was too late to stop the hungry seduction her body was about to endure. Tonight, they’d take her further, push her harder. Eagerness sang through his bloodstream like good wine.

When he reached Kimber’s side, Deke had positioned himself at her right. He settled on her left.

“Luc?” she whispered, looking for reassurance.

Did she feel the barely leashed violence of their need hovering in the air? He bet she did. And that it frightened and thrilled her at once. She had good reason for her fear. In the decade plus that he and Deke had been sharing women, Luc had never seen his cousin more intense, more driven. He would take everything she was willing to give. Right now. And push for more.

Deke’s need fed his own, until Luc felt primal and deliciously aroused.

“Buckle up, sweetheart,” Luc whispered. “This is going to be one amazing ride.” He’d barely finished the sentence before Deke bent down, cupping her breast in one hand and lifting it to his descending mouth. Luc followed suit, sliding her other nipple against his tongue. He glided gentle fingers over the curve of her hip to counteract the tingle of hard pulls and nipping teeth he knew they were both unleashing on her turgid nipples.

Kimber gasped, back arching. She stood on tiptoes as if she was trying to absorb the sensation or get closer to their suckling mouths—or both. She reached a fist into his hair, grasping, holding him against her breast. Luc reveled in the little sting on his scalp, her fingers clutching at him, helpless against the onslaught of pleasure.

The sounds of constant laving, voracious sucking—her hard breathing—

punctuated the still air. She was perfect, her nipples hardening against his tongue with every fresh lick…

Suddenly, at his side, Deke snarled, “Let’s get on with this.” Ah, the plan, the one they’d worked out while Kimber had been holed up in the den studying and Deke had been pacing the kitchen, acting as if he were about to crawl out of his skin with impatience, while Luc cooked.

Reluctantly, he lifted his head from the sugared perfection of Kimber’s breast.

There would be time later. If things worked out, a lifetime of it. As soon as he appeased the hungry beast beside him. Truth be told, the thought of what could happen tonight roused the beast in him, too. Knowing it was way too soon for that, he pushed it back down.

At the loss of their touch, Kimber moaned, the sound small and pleading. Luc risked a glance at her breasts. He swallowed. Already her nipples were deep red, visibly swollen, and so damn hard. The sight made him want to forget his plans and instead spend his night giving her beautiful breasts constant attention.

“Now.” Impatience resonated in Deke’s demand.

Down, boy, down. Luc sent his cousin a warning stare before turning back to Kimber. Gently, he eased off her miniskirt and removed her thong. God, she was gorgeous. Slender, but with curves. Lean and athletic without looking masculine.

Tall enough to be graceful, but not so tall that she looked awkward.

Just…perfect.

Luc smiled at the thought and took her shoulders in his hand. “Sweetheart, last night was all about getting you accustomed to accepting the touch of two men.” Despite dazed, slightly dilated eyes, she nodded. “I know.”

“You did well. Really well. Tonight is about seeing how much pleasure you can dish out. This will be more challenging since you want us to leave your virginity intact and you’re not yet ready to accept one of us in that sweet backside.” Kimber paused, clearly puzzling his words out. “I don’t know anything about oral sex.”

He smoothed a hand over her shoulder, soothing her.

“We’ll work through it together.”

Biting her lip, she sent him a shaky nod. Then she smoothed her tongue across her bruised lip, and the sight punched Luc with a fresh bout of pure lust.

Beside him, Deke appeared to lose all patience—and selfcontrol. He put his hand on her shoulder and urged her to her knees before him. Kimber fell slowly, an uncertain inch at a time, her gaze never leaving Deke’s. It traveled up as she went down, and the sight kicked Luc with a jolt of lust.

Then he sighed. Guess that settled the question of who would partake of Kimber’s silken mouth first.

Kneeling behind her, Luc tore off his shirt, watching as Deke ripped off his own and tossed it across the room, then began to unbutton his old-school, button-fly jeans, one button at a time. Luc settled in behind Kimber, easing his hands on her shoulders, observing her as she watched Deke reveal a wedge of muscled abdomen, a strip of light brown pubic hair, then, as he shoved his jeans off, the entire length of his cock.

Deke stroked his erection, as if he couldn’t stand another minute without stimulation. Luc related to that. He grimaced as he adjusted himself, sat behind Kimber, and touched his hands to her bare hips, then roamed her soft flesh.

“Touch him,” Luc murmured.

“What?”

Luc couldn’t keep his hands from wandering, across her hip, around to her belly, up to her breast. He flicked his thumbs across her pebbled nipples. Still hard. He’d love to know exactly how wet she was. Soon… Patience, damn it. Right now, he couldn’t distract her.

“Take Deke in your hand and stroke him, just like he’s doing to himself.” So slowly Luc could feel his sweat drip, Kimber reached out and grabbed Deke’s hard flesh in her hand. Up, up…until she clasped the tip, ran her thumb across the head. Deke groaned so loud, his entire chest rumbled with sound.

“Good instincts,” Luc praised. “Down and up again.” Kimber repeated the process once, twice, faster, coordinating her movements a bit more.

“I can hardly get my hand around him.” She frowned in concentration and brought her other hand up to Deke’s cock to join the first, wrapping her slender fingers around his girth. Now she totally encompassed him, stroking him with more vigor, watching Deke’s face as those blue eyes women drooled over slid shut and he threw his head back in brilliant pleasure.

“Good,” Luc muttered. “Now lick your lips. Yes, like that.” He couldn’t resist kissing the side of her neck, nibbling on her earlobe. “Lean in, open wide, and take him in your mouth.”