TWENTY-FOUR
Kelly stared around the living room the next morning, amazed that there was nothing left, not so much as a speck of blood, to prove that the night before had been no dream.
The only proof left was the egg-sized knots that had been left on Dawg’s, Natches’s, and Rowdy’s heads. John Barnes hadn’t come to the front door, he had known about Dawg’s back entrance through his father, who had spent years spying on the Mackay cousins, and used it to slip into the house.
He had gotten Dawg first, while Natches was outside getting the last supplies from his truck. When he came in, he had seen the same thing Kelly had, what appeared to be Dawg napping on the couch.
He had moved into the kitchen with the supplies, where the deputy had moved in behind him and knocked him unconscious as well. He had waited until Kelly had left the bedroom upstairs, hiding in the other room until she started down the stairs, before he had disabled Rowdy. Or thought he had.
Rowdy had been coming out of his nap as he was struck; the blow had dazed him, taking precious minutes for him to get his bearings enough to struggle from the bed.
The sheriff had called that morning after running a night-long investigation on his dead deputy. He had indeed been Loren Barnes’s son, kidnapped by his father several years before the Mackay cousins had become her lovers.
There was a long history of abuse as a child, foster homes, and disappearances that hadn’t been followed up on at the time. As the full story emerged, everyone who had known him on the force had been shocked. His father had molested him for years, punishing him for the supposed crimes his mother had committed. Richard Barnes, the father, had been insane, and his insanity had been forced upon his son until it had warped his view of women.
Four women had paid for that crime.
“Feeling better?” She turned her head as Dawg moved from the kitchen, followed by Rowdy and Natches.
She stared at the three men, feeling the tension that suddenly filled the room, the intensity in their eyes. She had known this was coming, had known Rowdy’s cousins would soon put his decision to the test. She could see it in the ready tension of their bodies. There was none of the expected anger in Rowdy’s expression though. His body was relaxed, easy, his gaze simmering with amusement.
“Do we have a problem?” She crossed her arms over her breasts and stared back at the three curiously.
“Rowdy’s being greedy,” Dawg grunted. “How do you feel about that?”
“I’m rather greedy myself, Dawg,” she informed him fondly. “I can’t do it.”
“We wouldn’t hurt you.” She could see the frustration in his face. “Hell, Kelly, our cousins in Texas have survived just fine.”
The Augusts. They didn’t even live in Somerset and they had a reputation here.
She breathed in deeply.
“I’m not Marly or their other wives,” she informed them as Rowdy straightened, slowly tensing.
Dawg glared back at Rowdy then. “You didn’t even give us a chance—”
“You don’t love her, Dawg,” Rowdy snapped, striding across the room to Kelly’s side.
When he turned to face Dawg and Natches, his arm curled around Kelly’s back, pulling her closer to his hard body.
“We love her enough,” Natches protested, his jaw pulsing tightly.
“Oh give it up!” Kelly stepped away from her lover, staring between the three men incredulously, laughter bubbling from her throat at their fierce expressions. “Geez, do I look like a bone between the three of you?”
They stared back at her in surprise.
“Dawg, how many times did I flirt with you, just for the hell of it, while Rowdy was gone?”
“You did what?” Rowdy turned to her in surprised irritation.
“Save it.” She rolled her eyes back at him. “You were gone, so the jealousy is a little late.” She turned back to Dawg. “And I’m waiting on an answer, Dawg?”
Dawg shifted nervously, rather like a little boy caught in a fib.
He cleared his throat, glancing at Rowdy with a grimace.
“You belonged to him first.”
“I’m his always, Dawg,” she informed him gently. “Now, forever, and always. And that’s my decision. Not Rowdy’s. And it’s one you won’t change.”
“I told you she was trouble,” Natches griped. “Dammit, Kelly, we didn’t ask you to mess things up like this.” He cast her a brooding glare.
“You’re welcome.” She smiled back placidly.
They weren’t angry, she could see it in their eyes, feel it in the affection in their gazes.
Natches turned to Dawg and lifted his fist.
“We’re the last.”
Dawg lifted his fist in return, touching it to his cousin’s. “The last.”
He appeared firm, decisive. Kelly tilted her head and watched both men curiously. Natches might never let go of the more extreme needs, but there was something there in Dawg’s expression. Something hesitant. Something uncertain.
“Let’s go.” Rowdy’s arm hooked around her waist, dragging her toward the stairs.
“Where?”
“To bed,” he growled.
“But, Rowdy, I’m not sleepy.”
“I promise, you will be. Later…”
She was laughing as he swept her into the bedroom.