Heavenly Angel (12 page)

She was relieved, and she told him as much. “I could not understand why I would feel that way toward your brother when I love you so much. Especially given my past and the way I was raised. I looked in his eyes and…” She left the thought incomplete because she had no words to describe what happened. It still warred within her. Her love and loyalty were supposed to belong exclusively to Angel. But Joaquin was like a powerful magnet to her steel.

“I placed no implied boundary between you and Joaquin. I told him a little about you on the phone yesterday, including that I was planning to propose. That would have been the time to warn him off if that was how I felt. If he thought that I was not willing to share, he would have ignored any attraction he felt and declared you off limits. We were not raised by men who were jealous of each other. Eleazar allowed Mom to get to know his brothers and to consider them as possible suitors. It worked out well for them, most of the time, anyway.” The last he added with a chuckle.

“Most of the time?”

“My mom is a firecracker, as you can imagine.”

It helped to know that Angel was still the one in the driver’s seat where the relationship was concerned. It also helped to know that Joaquin would have done the right thing if sharing wasn’t an option for Angel and would still do the right thing if she wouldn’t consider him.

“If Joaquin had known you would not…share me, he would not have
allowed
himself to be attracted to me? And it’s all right with you? What if he tries to kiss me?”

“I haven’t released him to do that. I wanted to talk to you first, sweetheart. He wouldn’t make any move toward you until you told me you would consider him and I had given him the right to touch you. You wouldn’t have to
leave
my arms if I sensed you wanted to go to him. I would release you to him. Remember I grew up watching my mom interact lovingly with three husbands. From my point of view, it would seem weird if you
didn’t
kiss him or if you felt guilty for kissing him in front of me.”

Teresa trusted Angel implicitly and knew she needed some answers to put her growing concerns at ease.

“What about…sex? How would that work? Would I have to switch off who I slept with?” How was she going to keep all that straight? His hands still held hers, and he rubbed her palms to reassure her but allowed her to finish.

“I have no experience, Angel. Are you sure I could even handle it? How can I please you both when I’m not used to pleasing one?” As she grew increasingly agitated, he lifted her easily into his lap. She rested her head against his strong shoulder and felt safe as he rubbed a hand up and down her spine.

“Are you really asking if I would make love to you while Joaquin was in bed with us?” Angel asked bluntly. At her nod, he continued. “A lot of that depends on you. If you allowed us to love you together, you might find that you’d prefer it to two separate beds. Our first priority would be making you happy.

“You’ve always been very modest around me, but I want you to know how it would be so you won’t get the wrong idea. Your men would introduce you to a whole new world, beautiful. When we make love to you together, we would show you how many ways a man can bring a woman pleasure.”

She tried to picture what he was talking about, and the more the image of the three of them together entered her mind, the more it intrigued her. “When you say you would make love to me together, what exactly do you mean? I don’t know
anything
and Grace and I have never gotten into detail…about…you know.” She knew her cheeks were bright red.

“And you see that as a problem, don’t you, sweetheart?” He squeezed her reassuringly. “It would be our pleasure to teach you how to make love to us. That’s not something to be embarrassed about or ashamed of.”

Angel shifted subtly in his seat and cleared his throat. As he moved, she could feel the hard erection against her hip. He’d never once nudged her to touch that part of him, and it had been months they’d been dating. Her cheeks grew hotter as she hoped sometime soon she could touch him there. Hot moisture rushed to her core in response to that thought. She wished she knew what to do for him.

“When you say both of you loving me together, how does that work, exactly?”

“What I’m talking about right now is both of us being in the same bed with you. We’d kiss you, stroke you, and make love to you, one at a time. There are other possibilities that we can try down the road but only if you are willing and have a desire to…be more adventurous.”

As he spoke, she felt his erection grow even larger and harder. Her curiosity grew along with it, and for once, feelings of trepidation didn’t follow, just a desire to be with him in a more intimate setting to explore what he talked about. She liked the idea of them kissing her and stroking her. The thought of them making love to her while they were all together in bed made her feel naughty, which she found she enjoyed just a bit.

“I’ll answer any question you have, even if you think it’s a dumb question. You can also ask Grace how things work.” He became thoughtful for a second, and there was a twinkle in his eyes as he looked into hers. “Let me put it this way, if you ask her and she tells you about something you’d like to try, I can guarantee we’ll be willing to try it with you. There’s just one stipulation, which I’m sure you will agree with.”

“What’s that?”

“They are a foursome, a ménage à quatre. We would be a ménage à trois, a threesome. We would never welcome a fourth party into our relationship with you.”

“Oh! So what you mean is I don’t need to worry about
another
of your brothers showing up and falling in love with me?”

Angel laughed out loud and hugged her. “No! Luka and Matthias are much too busy sowing wild oats. Besides that, they are only in their early twenties. Sweetheart, if you’re asking all these questions, can I assume you’re going to give this idea some thought?”

“Yes, I think I will consider it, but I have more questions.”

“What would you like to know?”

Teresa brought up the other issue that concerned her. “From time to time, the men have felt the need to defend Grace’s honor. I deal with the public like she does. I’m not a person who is good with quick comebacks or deflecting the questions of others. People can be so mean, especially when they feel self-righteous.”

Angel nodded. “People will always have opinions, but I take encouragement from Jack and the guys. They keep their marital status with Grace a private issue but don’t try to hide it like it’s a secret. If you’d like to keep working, we’d do as Grace does and only acknowledge one spouse and allow the public to draw their own conclusions. We’ll always be respectful in how we treat you publicly.”

His brows drew together thoughtfully as he pressed on to the real issue. “We’d take a dim view of anyone insulting you, and protecting you would always be our top priority. Keep in mind that Jack, Ethan, and Adam would also be very protective of you, the same as I would be toward Grace, or any of her female friends. It would not be just me and Joaquin looking out for you.”

“Thank you. I’ve never thought of it that way, but it’s nice to know all of you care that much about us.”

“So, I can tell Joaquin you would be willing to consider him?” Angel sounded formal asking that question.

Chapter Eleven

Angel stroked her shoulder as Teresa considered his words and nodded without hesitation. In the small span of time that this had become a possibility, he’d emotionally invested himself in the idea and was surprised to realize how disappointed he would’ve been if she’d said no.

“Yes, but make sure Joaquin understands I’ll need time to…catch up?” she asked as she stroked his hand. “I need to know him individually before I can consider the commitment you’re proposing. And also, he may discover I’m too timid and not want me after all.”

Angel laughed at her last comment and said, “I think there’s a side to Teresa Palacios that is anything but timid. Could you imagine having this conversation with me six months ago?” At her laugh and the fervent shake of her head, he continued. “I think the more pressing question is what happens when you discover you like Joaquin better and that I am a gigantic ass.”

She laughed with him. “No way. I already know I’m madly in love with you. So this puts off our wedding date for a while?”

He didn’t miss the disappointment in her tone. “I would prefer to be your husband today, but I would rather start out together than bring him into our relationship later. It would’ve been nice if he’d had the last six months with you also.”

“The Teresa you asked out on that first date would have run screaming at the first sign you were both interested in me and would have fainted dead away at the mere thought of sharing a bed with you. It’s interesting, the changes being with you’ve brought about in my life, Angel.”

“I could say the same about you, beautiful.”

Angel rose from the glider after helping her stand and folded her into his arms, relieved at the relaxed smile that had replaced the look of confused embarrassment she’d worn perpetually since meeting Joaquin. They went inside and found Michael and Joaquin at the dining room table, eating re-heated brisket.

“This is purty good, Daddy!” Michael chirped through a full mouth. They chuckled, and Joaquin looked up at them both with guarded hope in his eyes. Angel smiled as he watched the way Joaquin’s eyes drank in Teresa’s beauty while her attention was on her son. It was plain to see that his brother was enthralled by this woman who so easily held both their hearts in her delicate hands.

She smiled self-consciously at Joaquin and said, “I think we should open more presents. There are gifts under the tree for Angel and Joaquin that they haven’t opened yet, aren’t there, Michael?”

“Yep!” He hopped down with no hands from the thick phone book on the chair and ran into the living room to the Christmas tree while she went after his grubby little hands and face with a damp dish cloth.

Joaquin rose as Angel stopped beside him and said in a low voice, “She asked for time to get to know you, but she’s willing to consider you. She asked for you to be patient with her. She had quite a few questions, which I take as a good sign.” He clapped Joaquin on the back and chuckled at his relieved smile. “Let’s go see what Teresa and Michael brought us.”

Teresa handed a small package to Michael and whispered to him. He grinned and brought it to Joaquin and climbed up in his lap and watched him expectantly as he opened it. Teresa brought the large square box wrapped in red-striped paper to Angel.

“Hey! It’s a cell phone case, isn’t it? Look, bro, hand-tooled leather.” Joaquin proudly held it up.

“Yeah,” Michael chirped. “Now you got someplace to keep your phone, right?”

“That’s right, buddy. Thank you.”

Angel smiled when Michael turned in Joaquin’s lap and gave him a big hug. Joaquin looked over Michael’s head at Teresa, and his eyes were filled with affection as he whispered, “Thank you,” to her and kissed the top of Michael’s head before he jumped down to go watch Angel open his gift. Angel smiled at the exchange, knowing firsthand what it felt like when that little boy reached in your chest and stole your heart. He’d felt it, too.

Teresa nodded and smiled back at him then whispered, “You’re welcome, Joaquin. Merry Christmas.”

* * * *

As Joaquin sat in the living room opening gifts with Angel, Teresa, and Michael, he spared a thought for the young woman he’d been in bed with the morning before. Recalling the way they casually parted ways afterward, he hoped she’d made it home safely. He felt embarrassed he intentionally never asked her name but most certainly had known her intimately. He looked over at the beautiful woman sitting next to his brother. His brother had patiently wooed her for six months and barely done more than kiss her.

Teresa’s warm brown eyes and her blushing cheeks had changed his outlook on life. Her scent still lingered in his memory from when he’d kissed her cheek earlier. The memory of wild sex with that nameless girl hadn’t even stirred a tingle, but the look of hesitant attraction in Teresa’s eyes had his cock ready to shatter diamonds right then. He had a feeling that horndog was going to be howling for a while before it got any relief.

Joaquin looked on as Angel sighed in appreciation when he opened the hatbox. Inside was a pale-wheat-colored straw hat. Joaquin watched the way she leaned into Angel as he wrapped his arms around her lovingly and kissed her. Her dark lashes swept down across her cheeks as she tilted her full lips up to his. The kiss was brief because her son stood nearby, but Joaquin didn’t miss the love in her eyes as she looked into Angel’s eyes. She was too beautiful to be real. Joaquin was dragged back to reality when she spoke.

“You like it?”

Holding it up to admire it, he said, “I love it. That’s a very fine straw hat.”

“Put it on.” Michael said, leaning against Angel’s knee. When Angel complied, he said, “Nice, Daddy. Looking good! Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, buddy.” Angel wrapped an arm around him and kissed his forehead. “Thank you.”

Joaquin was finally able to rise from the couch without embarrassing himself and retrieved the gifts he’d brought with him from San Angelo. He handed Michael a gaily-wrapped package and chuckled as Michael shredded the paper and opened the box.