STORY EXCERPT

Late spring, 2019

“I think that’s everything.” Randy Benedict looked at the box of the completely loaded F-150 and turned to his cousin Lewis. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s pretty fucking sad that the entirety of our combined sixty-five years of existence on this earth can fit into the box of an F-150.”

“Well, that’s true.” Randy grinned at his cousin. Together, they set the cover over the box and secured it.

Randy knew Lewis was down. This whole blowup with the families here in Montana was enough to get anyone down, truth to tell. But Lewis was especially bitter, and who could blame him? He’d worked hard since high school, breaking his back, ranching from morning to night, believing he’d get a share of the ranch he’d helped build. And he’d learned last week that wasn’t going to be the case at all.

Randy believed in counting his blessings and decided to do so now, to cheer Lewis up. “Our horses and saddles are all over at Mickey’s. You know he’ll take care of them and then ship them to us when we find our place.”

“I do know that. After the stunt Marcus pulled with my brothers Dale and Parker, you can bet your ass I wasn’t going to trust in the loving generosity of my family. Since Mickey was outraged by big brother’s B.S., he was happy to help us out.”

Even though Randy’s Uncle Carter had come down like a ton of bricks on Marcus for claiming his brothers’ horses belonged to the ranch when the men had bought them on their own, Randy was in full agreement with Lewis. His own father, John, wouldn’t have allowed his older brother and new ranch manager, Carl, to have done anything like that. But the sad truth was he really didn’t trust any of his or Lewis’s brothers left here in Montana, and that was just…yeah, that was fucking sad.

Randy was allergic to sad. “I hear you,” Randy agreed. “We covered ourselves there.”

“Okay, so we have our maps and everything, right?” Lewis headed toward the driver’s side, and Randy, happy to accommodate him, headed to the passenger side. Randy had sold his own truck and put the money into a short-term bond. He’d do his share of the driving but would let Lewis call the shots. He was happy to let Lewis lead—as long as he was leading in the right direction.

“We have our maps,” Randy said. “And GPS. Our cell phones are both charged, and we have the cords and chargers to keep them that way. We have two thermoses of coffee, sandwiches, nibbles, cash on hand, and our debit and credit cards.”

“We’re heading to Texas, first, to visit our brothers and our cousins and meet wives and babies. While we’re there, we’ll check in online and see if we’ve had any responses to our inquiries into land available for purchase in our four-state area of preference.”

They’d agreed to look for a new place in Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. They’d come to the conclusion that they needed to make their own way in this world. They had money saved, having invested early, and all they needed to do was find a place that felt like home.

They were best friends and trusted each other more than they trusted any other soul, period. Despite the odds, the two of them had become brothers, more surely than if they’d been born that way.

“Trace and Lucas swear the internet where they are is awesome. So it shouldn’t be a problem for us to make progress on our search while we’re there.”

“Good.” Lewis reached for the key then sat back. “One more thing I think we have to go over, just to make sure we’re both on the same page.”

“Okay, cousin. Shoot.”

“We are only going to Lusty for a visit. We are not staying. We are not meeting some woman who would make us the perfect wife. Not that I have anything against those who do, and not that you and I haven’t shared a few…encounters…in the past. They were good, and they were fun. But that is not where we are headed right now. Right? So, we’re only going to visit the family in Texas. Maybe stay a couple of weeks. Hell, maybe even three. And then we’re going to find that place that’s meant to be ours, that place that feels like home. Right?”

Randy Benedict, son of John and Mary, brother to Trace and Lucas, Carl and George, was an honest man. Except, of course, when being honest simply would not get the job done.

He’d thought about this ever since he’d heard from his brothers and his cousins who’d relocated to Texas and examined the way he’d felt when they’d talked about their lives and lifestyles there.

So, when his cousin Lewis—his best friend, the man his heart knew as brother—said he’d had enough, that he wanted to find his own place, Randy immediately threw his lot in with him.

Because Randy Benedict had a hunch. Not a plan, that was Lewis’s strong suit, but he had a hunch. His family had called the two of them—him and Lewis—a couple of mavericks all their lives, and Randy felt he was finally living up to that moniker. And like any true maverick, from here on out, he was going to be unconventional and spontaneous to the max.

He turned to his best friend and met his gaze and prayed his serious face was all Lewis would see. “Right. We’re going to visit the family, and then we’re going to find that place that’s meant to be ours.”

Randy didn’t lie, exactly. He just didn’t say all that was on his mind—or in his heart. Because his hunch was that there was indeed a place that was meant to be theirs, a place that would feel like home. The woman? The one he believed they were destined to share? She’d likely come later. Much, much later.

As Lewis started the truck and headed down Randy’s family’s long driveway for what would probably be the last time, Randy knew without a doubt they were heading to the place that was meant to be theirs. And that place had a name.

Lusty, Texas.

ADULT EXCERPT

Michaela was having the most erotic dream, ever. Warmth and tiny sizzles of electricity spread throughout her body. Her nipples hardened, and she felt an urge… A mewl escaped as her pelvic floor muscles clenched, sending a shard of pure horniness to her clit. Dampness reminded her of the wet dreams she’d been having, and just like that, she knew that, this time, it was no dream.

“Open your eyes, baby girl.”

Eyes opened, she looked up into the faces of both men, on their sides, peering down at her. Randy blew out a breath, and she understood, as that heated air caressed her flesh, that her tank top was no longer on her body.

“Good morning.” It was the best she could come up with. Her entire body felt as if it had begun to hum. She was horny and wanted nothing more than for these two men to be doing something about that little thing. Now.

“It’s about to be the best morning, ever,” Randy said.

“Oh, yeah.” Their kisses had been the best she’d ever had. She’d bet everything else would blow what she’d known as sexual satisfaction right out of the water.

“Are you in a lot of pain?” Lewis asked.

Pain? Oh yeah, my hand. “No, it’s not even as bad as it was when we got up earlier and ate.”

Lewis grinned, and then he moved. Before she could blink, he was on his knees by her ankles. He reached up and began to tug her sleep shorts down. As soon as he had them off her, he put his hands on her legs. Following his unspoken command, she opened them—making a place for him, which he immediately occupied.

“If you’re not feeling up to this, sweet thing, tell me now.”

Not up to it? After that hot wake-up call they’d just delivered, after spending the night safe and secure between them, with their body heat warming her and their wonderful aroma permeating every cell in her body? She was way more than up to it. What she needed to do was to let them know in real stark and earthy terms what she wanted—what she, by damn, needed.

“Lewis? Less talk, more action. Please, put your mouth on my cunt and eat me.”

His smile was breathtaking—but not nearly as breathtaking as the moment when he lowered his smile to her sex and granted her request.