Love Under Two Benedicts(41)

Her muscles lax, the tightness in her ass eased. Matthew fucked her, his possession so fierce his balls bounced against her cunt. The sound that emerged from him turned out to be the final push she needed, sweeping her over the edge into a hurricane of rapture, wave after relentless wave of orgasmic bliss battering her, flooding her, consuming her. Steven, too, cried out in completion, and Kelsey could feel the pulsing ejaculations of both of her lovers at the same time.

She came back to herself slowly, the stars that had exploded behind her closed eyelids making her doubt she had vision left while the ringing in her ears suggested she might be deaf. Unable to feel her fingers or toes, she wondered if she was even alive.

“Oh, God.” Since that breathy sigh had come from her she guessed she was alive. Matthew had collapsed on her, but his considerable weight felt good.

“Easy, baby,” he whispered. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. Good.” Maybe in an hour or two she’d become capable of speaking full sentences.

Matthew straightened and then slowly pulled out of her. He lifted her off his brother, gently set her down beside him, then headed to the bathroom.

“Mother of God,” Steven said. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her hair. “I feel like I should erect a statue in gratitude.”

“That would certainly give folks something to talk about,” she said. As much as she loved lying naked with these two Benedicts, her thoughts traveled across the hall to the little boy sleeping there. She didn’t want to shock the little guy should he get up in the middle of the night.

She heard Matthew come back into the room, then felt the bed dip.

“This is Lusty. The only talk you’d hear would be the universal wish that they’d thought of it first. Here, baby.”

Kelsey opened her eyes. Matthew had something white in his hands. He seemed to want her to sit up, so she did.

“We’ll open the door now. I’ll go check on him. Steven will take the next check. Meanwhile, if Benny comes in…” He left the sentence unfinished as he settled one of his T-shirts over her head. She noted that he’d pulled on his boxers. When Steven emerged from the bathroom, he had his on as well.

“Thanks. I was just thinking the same thing.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the poor little guy has a nightmare,” Steven said.

“Me, neither,” Kelsey agreed. She could easily recall the screams of a child gripped by night terror. It had happened to Sean a couple of times with absolutely no provocation that she knew of. How much more likely, then, that a child abandoned by his mother would have a frightening dream?

Matthew opened the bedroom door and went across the hall just as Steven finished restoring the top sheet and blankets. Matthew returned a few moments later.

“He’s fine,” he said as he got into bed beside her.

“I love you, Kelsey.” Steven placed a kiss on her lips.

“I love you, Kelsey.” Matthew turned her head and did the same.

She wished she could say the words back, but something inside told her she wasn’t ready. In her world, love equaled commitment, and she just couldn’t yet. She might never be able to, but maybe the time had come to leave the past completely in the past and think about the future.

Kelsey nodded off to sleep, her last thought that she might not get to sleep through the night with a wee one in the house.

Later, much later, a scream of terror and torment awoke them all, but the scream wasn’t Benny’s.

It was Kelsey’s.





Chapter 14



“Benny’s gone back to sleep,” Matthew said as he re-entered the bedroom. He handed the glass of brandy he’d brought to Steven, who held it to Kelsey’s lips.

“Sip.”

“Thanks.” She took a tiny drink, then shivered. “Brandy twice in one night. A new record for me.”

“You lush,” Matthew said.

Kelsey managed a small laugh. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes and let herself lean against Steven.

Matthew got back under the blankets, pressing close to her, and stroking her arm. “Can you tell us about your nightmare, sweetheart?”

“It was the shooting,” Kelsey said. “For the first year after that horrible day, I’d have the dream on a regular basis. I saw it happen, you see. And then, in my nightmares, it would happen again and again, only I knew it was going to happen. Usually, I’d push myself out of the car, run towards the store, nearly, so very nearly making it. Failing, time and again, to save them. To save my baby.”

Kelsey felt the tears tracking down her face. Matthew wiped them this time. He said, “You know there’s nothing you could have done, don’t you?”