Lusty Texas: Love Under Two Quarterbacks

By Cara Covington

Now Available at BookStrand!

Ari Stein is certain that romance is nowhere in the cards for her. Carrying the scars from a traumatic childhood, she’s wandered, rootless, until she landed in Lusty. Now her restless spirit has calmed and for the first time since she was teen, she feels safe and at home.

Twins, Cord and Jackson Benedict, have built rather amazing careers in the NFL, earning themselves the moniker, “The Wonder Twins.” Then Jackson takes a hit in training camp and it’s time to start over.

Grandma Kate convinced them to come to Lusty and meet this side of their family. One look at Ari and they know they made the right move—and once they see the way the Lusty branch of their family lives, they know what they want their future to be. Will they succeed in getting Ari to open up and trust them? Or will a specter from her past, and an annoying little pissant from theirs, stop them from finding their happy ever after?

STORY EXCERPT

“You’re both of you my dream come true, and I am going to be the best wife, and the best mother to our children…and I’ll try not to give you too many more gray hairs.” She grinned and then her smile softened. “I will honor you and love you both for the rest of my life, and yes, into the next one as well.”

Then Andrew placed a ring on Chloe’s left hand, next to the one from Grant she already wore, and she gave one to him, too, similar to the one she’d given Grant. Ari recalled the day Chloe came back from Divine, all excited, and showed them the matching wedding bands she’d bought for her men. She also had been lucky enough to have seen Chloe’s wedding rings. Grant and Andrew had been proud of the two bands of etched gold that fit together as one.

Chloe and her men turned to face the older women. Samantha nodded to Kate. “Please, do the honors, Kate.”

Kate Benedict spread her hands, palms up. “And now your journey begins, and your adventure awaits. May you forever remain steadfast, each one in the others, and may love light your way, always. Congratulations!”

Cheers and applause and shouts of congratulations filled the air. People started to move in, wanting to congratulate the happy triad. Ari thought to move back, but the two Benedicts who had a hold of her hands had a different idea.

“Let’s go and give our congratulations, and then we can grab a table and a couple of beers and get to know each other better.” Cord Benedict wore a smile that she bet in the past had allowed him to get away with a multitude of sins.

“Get to know each other better? We don’t know each other at all,” Ari said.

“Exactly my point!” Cord beamed at her and damned if her heart didn’t give the barest little flutter.

“She’s likely too chicken to spend a couple hours talking and dancing with us,” Jackson said.

Ari would have turned on the man then, but they were next in line. They did let her hands go so that she could hug each of the grooms, and then really hug the bride. But since they still bracketed her, she wasn’t able to get away.

Oh, and you’re really trying hard to do just that, aren’t you, you little hypocrite?

One of these days she was going to choke her inner imp to death.

The men had her hands again, but before they took too many steps, Ari twirled around, surprising them both into releasing her.

She stepped right up into Jackson’s face. “It’s not the drinks or the talk or even the dancing that I mind. It’s the fact that the first chance you get, you’re both going to try and play naughty dog.”

Jackson’s dark gaze held hers and she felt a shiver run from her nipples to her clit. “Well, now that you mention it, the thought had entered our heads.”

“Your little heads, you mean?”

“Honey, they ain’t that little.”

Ari opened her mouth, and shut it fast when Cord placed a finger under her chin and turned her face toward him.

“A couple of beers, a couple of dances, and some talk. That’s all. We’ll save the first round of naughty dog for another time.”

“The first round?” It was pretty hard to remain sounding indignant when all she wanted to do was laugh.

“You’re worth a hell of a lot more than just one round, Red.” Cord sounded very sure of himself.

Maybe it was the use of that nickname that did it, or hell, maybe it was all the sensuous pheromones in the air. Ari had the sense that she was about to get herself into a shit-load of trouble.

Realizing the fact didn’t stop her.

“Oh, there’s no doubt at all that I am worth the trouble, and much more. I’m just not so sure that the two of you are.”

ADULT EXCERPT

The sound of a zipper opening caught her attention. She turned over just in time to watch Jackson Benedict drop his pants to the floor.

Ari couldn’t help but swallow at the sight of his erect cock. She’d suspected the man had a larger package than she’d ever seen before. Now she knew for certain that he did.

She licked her lips and realized that he was standing stock still, letting her look her fill. Cord came back into the bedroom and stood beside his brother.

“My, my, Red, you look just like a kid in a candy store.” He reached for his zipper, drawing her attention to him as he, too, shucked his pants.

Good Lord, he’s huge, too!

“Well at least now I know why they call you two The Wonder Twins!”

Both men burst out laughing, and then they climbed on the bed. Cord ranged himself on her left side, and Jackson stretched out beside her on her right.

Ari had used humor to cover up a very real spurt of nerves. Sex had never been a comfortable proposition for her. She wasn’t stupid enough to think it was painful for every woman, every time. She had never really been aroused, or very wet. Both of those conditions she’d experienced a little already today. She had hope that she’d get hotter and wetter and that with these men, the experience would be different.

But she only had hope, not experience, not yet.

Cord turned her face toward him, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “What has you worried, sweetheart?”

She couldn’t prevent those nerves of hers from finding voice. “Will you even fit?”

Ari wasn’t certain what emotion flashed like quicksilver across his face. He cupped her cheek and raised her face until he could meet her gaze. “We’ll fit. We won’t hurt you, Ari. If we think there’ll be a problem, we’ll use lubricant.”

“You brought lube with you to Lusty?”

“No, Tinker Bell,” Jackson said. She looked at him. “We went out and got ourselves all sorts of interesting supplies right after the first time we laid eyes on you.” Jackson continued to meet her gaze for a moment. “And no, we didn’t buy them here. We went into Waco, to one of the malls.”

Cord stroked her cheek again, and she turned back to look at him. He bent over her, and gave her a soft, chaste kiss. Then, his gaze on hers, he slid his hand from her cheek, to her neck, and then down, softly, between her breasts. His fingers slowly stroked the underside of her left breast. He let his fingers gently trail over her nipple.

That little bud drew up and became even tighter than it already was, and the sensation bordered on painful.

“Which one of us do you want first, sweetheart?” Cord asked.

“No. I…I only want to decide yes, or no. I want the two of you to figure things out between you. I know that sounds like that wimpy woman you both don’t like.” She didn’t know if she could explain to them in a way that wouldn’t sound pathetic. She really did just want to be taken care of, a little.

“Ari?”

Jackson’s voice, deeper and sexier than usual, drew her gaze.

“It doesn’t sound wimpy at all. To us, it sounds perfect. So just relax, baby. We’ve got you, and we’re going to take care of you.”

He lowered his head toward her. Ari sighed, closed her eyes, raised her face to meet his and parted her lips.

Jackson’s lips wooed hers. Back and forth, the wet heat seduced her, drawing her in, drawing her down so she became immersed in him completely. His tongue slid against hers, a gentle kind of stroking that urged her to open wider, to surrender.

She loved his flavor and the tiny little bit of suction he used, as if he would fuse their mouths together with not an ounce of air between them.

Though different, he and Cord were hands down the best kissers she’d ever known.

When he lifted his lips from hers, her eyes drifted open. The heat that glittered back at her from his gaze warmed something inside her that had been cold for a long, long time.

“I like the taste of you, Ari. I’m going to taste you some more—all over.”

He began to kiss a trail down her chest, and when he swirled his tongue around her nipple, a sound of pleasure teased her throat. Cord turned her head and met her gaze. His lips were spread in a sweet smile.

“I like that look on you. Like you’re letting yourself go, and just enjoying. I want to see more of it.” He laid his lips on hers. His kiss went from light to carnal in a heartbeat. She still had the essence of his brother on her tongue and for an instant the flavors combined, the taste of two men of strength, and it was the most erotic sensation ever.

She returned his kiss, her tongue eager to slip and slide. Arousal built through the tongue of one man that danced with hers and the tongue of the other that lapped at her skin and swirled around at her nipple. Her hands needed a part of this wonderment, too, and drifted down, one around Cord’s neck, and one down to rest on Jackson’s head.

Cord eased his lips from hers and delivered butterfly kisses to her eyes, then moved down her face to her cheeks and her chin. He licked a path down her neck. When his mouth settled over her other nipple, she cried out and laid her hand on his head.

Both nipples being sucked at the same time felt incredible, arousing her as she’d never been aroused, sending exciting tingles throughout her body. She’d believed her breasts held no pleasure for her, but she’d been wrong.

“Oh, oh yes.” Relief and excitement, joy and an achingly precious horniness, these emotions and sensations arose and swirled inside her. She undulated her hips, the movement practically instinctive. Hands moved on her as lips continued to kiss and tongues laved, and Ari let go for the first time in her life. She let go of control and just let herself be carried away by the pure pleasure permeating her every pore.

“That’s it, baby. Just give yourself to us.” Jackson’s deep voice reverberated against the wet flesh of her nipple.

“You taste so good. You’reso responsive, Red.” Cord brushed his hand down her stomach, and then strummed his fingers back and forth over her mound. “So smooth, like silk here. I like that you keep this naked. I like that you don’t want to hide your cunt behind your curls.”

“Oh, God.” The combination of their fingers and lips and words transported her to a realm of erotica, a realm she never thought to visit.

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