“Your uncle is Goodwin Hornsby?” Morgan looked over at Henry, who immediately raised one eyebrow.
Tamara had her gaze on her food as she forked a bit of potato. “Like I said, he’s my mom’s uncle. Jones is my father’s side of the family.”
He looked at her to see if she was being a smart-ass, if she’d been speaking facetiously. When she tilted her head and said, “What?” Morgan realized that she didn’t know one aspect of her great-uncle at all.
If the man hadn’t bothered to disclose his business reputation to his niece, Morgan wasn’t going to be the one to do so. At least not yet, though he would hold that in reserve. After all, his loyalty lay with his woman, not her kin.
“There was a Colonel Hornsby, RAF, in Afghanistan,” Henry said, proving he was on the same page as Morgan. “Any relation, do you think?” Henry’s expression looked completely guileless. Morgan could only admire his brother’s quick mind.
“Maybe way back. I think my uncle’s antecedents came from England.”
“Ah, so maybe the Colonel was a far and removed distant cousin,” Henry said.
“Could be.” A surprised look crossed her face when she looked down at her plate and saw that it was empty.
“So now that breakfast is over, what do you want to do?”
Morgan had to smile at the tone Henry used. He sounded innocent as hell, which, of course, he wasn’t.
“I guess since you cooked, I should do the dishes,” Tamara said.
“No, I think Morgan can do the cleanup while you and I cook…upstairs.”
“But I just had a shower!” Tamara’s pout wasn’t convincing at all.
“Ah, but did you soak in the Jacuzzi yet?”
“I knew there was something I forgot to do.”
Henry grinned and extended his hand to her as he got to his feet. “Don’t worry, Itty Bitty. I’ll take care of you.”
“I just bet you will.”
She looked over at Morgan, her head tilted to the side. He understood she was asking how he felt about her going off to have some private time with Henry. Eventually she’d become more comfortable with their arrangement. Eventually she’d come to understand that he and his brother would never be jealous of each other. But that, of course, would take time.
“Go have fun,” he said. “I’ll be up later.”
He counted it a good sign that she flashed a quick look below his belt and giggled.
* * * *
Tamara wouldn’t have thought she could be horny again so soon. She mentally shook her head. All Henry had to do was suggest getting naked and wet, and she got wet. Could I be any easier?
He kept a hold of her hand as he led her through the bedroom to the bathroom. He walked straight over to the tub where he turned on the Jacuzzi jets. Turning to face her, he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. His slow, sweet smile turned her resolve to mush and made her smile right back at him.
“How long until that hot tub gets hot?” Tamara had never actually indulged in a Jacuzzi, but considering the activities of the night before she thought the spa might prove to be the perfect therapy for muscles that ached slightly from unaccustomed activity.
“It takes a couple of hours when you first fill it, but then it stays hot. At least ours does. We Kendalls take our water sports very seriously. One never knows when one might want to…play.”
He drew her forward until she stood flush against him. When he wrapped his arms around her waist, she looped hers around his neck.
“Yesterday afternoon, I filled it and even had champagne chilling in a bucket close at hand.”
“We never made it out of bed to indulge last night.”
“No, we didn’t, but I can’t really complain. We did drink the wine, if you’ll recall.”
Tamara felt her insides melting just thinking about the way the men had lapped bubbly from her breasts and stomach.
“I most definitely do recall. That was another new experience for me.” She stopped speaking so she could stretch up and place a tiny kiss on his lips. “I’ve been really racking them up in the last twenty-four hours.” Tamara loved the way Henry moved his hands slowly up and down her back. Something about the way both he and Morgan touched her felt so good.
“You seem to be coping well with that realization.” He leaned down and returned the favor, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.
“It’s not just the things we’ve done together that are new. It’s the way I feel doing them. I used to believe that sex was no big deal, and that all the fireworks and heat I’d heard about nothing more than hype. You’re the first men who’ve really turned me on. It’s like—” Tamara stopped mid sentence. Why do I keep running off at the mouth with these Kendalls? Crap, if she wasn’t careful, she’d have no secrets left at all.
“It’s like what, sweetheart?”
If he’d teased, if he’d put on that cheeky grin he often used when he asked her a question, she might have been able to come up with a coy one-liner of her own in response—something trite to steer them out of emotional territory. But how did she fight the effect of that patient, tender look? How could she be glib as she so often was when he looked at her as if she was the center of the universe and her next words its most treasured truth?
“It’s as if my emotions were sleeping until the two of you came along and woke them up.”
“Shh.” Henry brought one arm from around her waist. She didn’t even realize she was crying until he wiped a tear from her cheek.
“You feel confused, off balance, as if your world has been turned upside down in the course of a couple of days. I can tell you without a word of a lie, Tamara, that it’s the same for us.”
“You don’t act off balance, or confused.”
