by Ally Prince
“Harry called in.” Mason grabbed the brush and started brushing her, a look of affection on his face, contentment even, he was a goner over this filly I couldn’t take her away from him now.
“Yeah, what did he say?” Harry knew how tight Mason and I were, so he would have no hesitation in talking to him about yesterday.
“Sheriff arrived and arrested McInnes. He went willingly but told Harry a few things. First thing, Tyler Mont bought Lucy’s virginity.” Rage reared its ugly head, and I wanted to curse and throw things, but the filly had already started to pick up on the change in the air and I didn’t want to scare her as that would set her back. “Secondly, if she doesn’t come through, he’ll go get Sophie. Either way, Robert assumes he’s getting money, and happy his asshole children would get what they deserved for pretending they had a right to be so much better than him. Harry also said he didn’t seem to grasp the fact that going to jail meant he wouldn’t be getting that money. Pretty sure he has fried his brain on all those drugs. Cindy is a goner, no idea where she is but Robert said she might go to Sophie for help and money. My concern is that she’ll lead Mont right to her.” Well, that had to be the shittiest fucking news you could hear.
“Fuck,” I moved to the corner and propped myself up on the railing, I felt weak and useless.
“I took the opportunity to call Easton.” I nodded, a little weary because Easton Mansfield was the guy who knew people that had connections with people you never wanted to know. But an overall nice guy. He was Mason’s cousin. If anyone could help us with what we might be dealing with, Easton was our guy.
“He’ll be here soon. Only about an hour away when I called, how’s that for luck,” Mason chuckled trying to lighten the mood, but I could hear the strain. I had only just gotten Lucy, and I already faced losing her and that sucked a big one.
“You know what gets me?” Mason asked but didn’t wait for a reply. “The Sheriff fucking knows what Mont has done, why the fuck is he still walking around?” I nodded in agreement. Sheriff Rayner’s daughter fell into Mont’s hands a few years back. It wasn’t pretty, but it all went quiet, no one knew what to make of it. I wondered if the guy was crooked. Why else would he let Mont walk free after raping his daughter?
We both turned at the sound of a truck rolling down my drive. We secured Penny and made our way to the stable entry. The truck pulled up outside the stables and two people got out. Easton Mansfield appeared, the other guy, I had no idea who he was.
Easton and Mason shook hands before he introduced me. Callum, the guy was huge, no shit, he looked bored but those icy blue eyes were sharp.
“I forget how tiny this town is.” Easton looked around the stables not even looking impressed but it didn’t bother me. Brookfield’s population had hovered at around two thousand now for years. Not booming or dying out.
“So, what’s the deal?” Easton piped up as he leaned against the front of the truck, looking ready to bolt at any moment.
Mason gave them the rundown on what had happened.
“Well, I’ll tell you what I know,” Easton stated. “Tyler Mont has a real bad reputation everywhere his slimy ass goes. He’s linked to several people disappearing, mostly women, and someone always follows him. I’m guessing it’s the feds or someone but he’s watched all the time, so he will be spotted pretty quickly. My bet is once Mont learns that McInnes is in the slammer he will back off. His ass is way too hot to fool around when the cops are sniffing around, but what concerns me more is the other sister. She’s out of town, Mont might have leverage in the city than he doesn’t have here. I don’t personally want to be associated with the prick, I don’t want my boys getting fucked over either.” We all nodded in agreement.
“You think they’ll come here for her?” Callum asked in a quiet voice, those huge shoulders hunching.
“I hadn’t really thought about it, I’m not sure he even knows where she is.”
“Oh, he’d know,” Easton stated matter of factly.
Shit.
The last thing I wanted was for Luce to not feel safe here with me. This place would be her home and I needed her to be comfortable here.
“Why’d he steal a horse off you?” Callum asked.
“Fuck if I know. He didn’t say, just said he’d pay me back. The man knows nothing about horses, I didn’t see it at his place either.”
“We might ask around quietly tonight. But first, you owe us a beer.” Easton turned as Lucy walked into the stables.
“Well hello darlin’,” someone rumbled in a deep drawl similar to Mason’s causing me to growl. Possessiveness roared to life inside me. She looked all sleepy with tousled hair and sexy as fuck. Her face clean of make-up. She didn’t have on a bra and the slopes of her breasts were right there under her thin shirt. Her legs looked hellaciously long in those tiny shorts and without a second thought, I stalked toward her.
“Whh...” she didn’t even get the words out before I had her in my arms and we were headed back to the house.
“Nice to meet you, Lucy,” someone called.
“Fuck you all,” I replied as Lucy laughed into my neck.
“You got all growly, it’s kind of hot.” My dick thickened in my jeans and I wanted to have her naked and be inside her. Soon I would.
“I’ll tell you what’s hot. You in that threadbare shirt, I want those shorts around your ankles while I bend you over and take you from behind again. You’ve been a bad girl, baby,” I taunted in her ear as we made it to the house.
“But you love me,” she laughed, but her words slammed into my chest, and I couldn’t deny them at all. Somehow without me knowing why, this beauty came into my life and turned it upside down. She forced me to see who I was and figure out that without her I wasn’t whole. Now I considered us a team, she would never be rid of me and I loved the fuck out of her.
I had not expected that, but I was looking forward to exploring all the possibilities this brought with it.
Chapter 9
Lucy
Penny made me laugh every day. Always full of cheer and happiness but something hovered below the surface that she didn’t want to talk about and I accepted that, for now. She accepted me being here with Logan, and that filled my heart a little more.
“Has he taken you on a date yet?” she queried as we sat down to eat breakfast.
I shook my head. We hadn’t done anything together out of the bedroom when I thought about it. Doubt settled into my bones and I stared at my bowl of oatmeal. Did he not want to be seen out with me? I did not have any boundaries and he gave me free roam over the property that was filled with grassy meadows, small valleys, and rocky outcrops. The stables and outbuildings were like their own little town, a constant hum of activity throughout the day. I thought about his words over the days, he didn’t want me to leave, he wanted me to stay here. He was a little cautious about Robert and with my birthday looming things might heat up, but I hoped it would all blow away. I figured Robert would rot in jail, Cindy would get hit by a truck and Mont would just vanish. A girl could dream.
Did that make me a horrible person for thinking such things? Probably.
My thoughts briefly went to my mother. I was conflicted when I thought of her. I loved her because she was my mom, but I hated her because of her choices. Her choices never included me or Sophie. When I had children, I would love them unconditionally until I parted from this earth, there were no questions there.
I wondered about Logan’s parents.
“Penny, can I ask you something?” I turned on my stool to face Penny. She was frowning at her cell. She tossed it across the counter and forced a smile at me.
“Sure you can, you know that.”
“What happened to your parents?” I tried to recall from my memory, having lived here forever, I possibly passed Logan or Penny in the street at some time. Hell, we went to the same school and Penny would only be a grade or two above me. I had kept to myself, it was easier that way. I didn’t have friends and the ones th
at were okay with my existence had headed off to college and now lived in the city.
“It was about five years ago now I guess. Shit, where does time go.” She grabbed her coffee cup and stared into it, looking a little lost and alone. “They found a spot on Dad’s lung, he had been getting winded a bit lately. That spot turned into something way worse. After about three months of treatment, Mom came home looking like death warmed up. Turned out she had pancreatic cancer. They died three weeks apart.” She let her tears fall, not even trying to stop them. My heart felt heavy for both her and Logan. “I was seventeen, and they just left me. By the time I reach thirty-four, I will have lived more days without them than I ever had with them and that hurts the most. God, it fucking hurts,” she broke down, and I moved to comfort her. I pulled her to my chest, and she came willingly. Her tears soaked through my shirt, but I didn’t care. She lost two of the most important people in her life. Logan had too.
My mom was not lost to me, but I know what grief felt like. I grieved for the acceptance I would never get now, grieved for the mother I’d never had. While the hole in my heart was small, her absence was a painful reminder every day, and perhaps one day I would understand her choices, but today I just could not fathom why she might do that to her children. She was meant to love and care for us.
The true grief that leaked from Penny I hoped I would never have to understand, it rattled in her bones and today she chose to not be strong and I was okay with that, glad I could be here for her.
I held her for a long while. When Logan finally came in from the stables, looking annoyed and a little frustrated as he dropped his hat on the bench he stopped short when he spotted us. My smile was soft but his brow creased as he edged closer.
“How’re my girls?” he asked pressing a kiss to my head and then Penny’s.
“We’re fine,” I replied so Penny didn’t have to but the eyebrow rise said he wasn’t buying it, but it wasn’t my story to tell.
Logan busied himself getting coffee and toast as Penny straightened up and thanked me before yelling at her brother.
“You’re a jerk, Logan, you know that.” He pivoted looking confused and a little pissed as he put his big hands on his waist.
“Do tell,” he mumbled out, eyes on his sister.
“You haven’t even taken her on a date. This beautiful girl, one who is clearly too good for you, and you can’t be bothered to show her a good time.”
“I show her a good time. You’ve got no complaints have you, Luce.” Logan winked at me, but that small smile on his face had my body roaring to life. How did he manage to manipulate me with just one look?
“Oh, gross. I mean outside of the bedroom you jerk. God, you’re disgusting. Lucy is coming out with me for her birthday.” Logan began to protest but Penny thrust a finger at him and he shut his mouth. “She’s my friend too.” I smiled at that because Logan looked like she’d kicked his puppy, but he nodded, Penny beamed at me before leaving the room.
Silence settled between us, and when Logan approached with those dark chocolate eyes focused on me, I squirmed. I wanted this man more and more every day, it was insane. He ate his toast in silence while my heart rate picked up. While he didn’t seem the least bit affected, I was seriously considering changing my panties. When he finished, he slowly wiped the crumbs from his lush lips and moved toward me. I swallowed, waiting.
He sauntered over keeping eye contact the entire time. Overnight his beard had grown so his face was a little more rugged and handsome. I wanted that growth to scratch on the inside of my thighs, my cheeks heated, and I looked down to hide the signs of my dirty thoughts. The bastard chuckled as he stopped next to me pressing his obvious bulge into my leg.
“What about I take you out for dinner tonight?” His hand dropped to my thigh, and he drew small circles with his thumb in the inside of my leg, setting my body on fire. When I didn’t meet his eyes, he placed a finger under my chin and lift my eyes to his. His eyes heated when he took in my face. “You want me,” it wasn’t a question.
“Always,” I panted, as he moved me on my stool, so he could stand between my legs. His hands slipped over my waist and down over my butt where he tugged me to the edge of the stool and pressed up against me.
“I know, I always want you too. But I’ve got a busy day so waiting will make it sweeter.” He leaned forward and tugged at my lower lip with his teeth before bringing his lips to mine and claiming me with a hot kiss. He angled my head and took what he wanted. Hands pulling me impossibly closer, thick girth grinding on my softness and a low growl in the back of his throat. I reached for his belt...
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Mason said from somewhere nearby.
“Fuck off,” Logan growled against my lips, before removing his hands from me and taking mine from him. “God, look at you,” he dropped his head in close. “I bet your panties are soaked. I want to slip inside so fucking bad, baby.” He wasn’t helping things at all, I made a noise.
“Come on,” Mason’s voice came from near the door.
“I will kill him.” He placed one more kiss on my lips before stepping back, the heel of his hand rubbing his cock. I licked my lips. “Luce, don’t babe. Have mercy.” Once again my cheeks heated as I smiled up at him, glad he was as affected as I was. “We’ll go out for dinner, leave the panties at home.” He grabbed his hat and with a quick kiss, he left leaving me a panting wet mess. Surviving until tonight would be a new brand of torture, one with the sweetest reward.
Logan
Lucy invaded my mind all fucking day, I would have preferred her on my dick but I had work to do, breeding to arrange and not just Lucy’s. Mason laughed all day too, the cock blocker, I had visions of Lucy’s lips on my cock in the kitchen and he fucking ruined it.
Dinner would be through a fucking drive-thru, I wanted inside her so bad. I intended on taking Lucy out and showing her off once all the shit settled but I didn’t want to be a dick. My place was the safest place for her but she might have gotten a little bored so we’d dash into Roy’s for some BBQ and then we’d be coming home to our bed and I would not let her sleep.
I was waiting in the kitchen when Penny walked in with a shit-eating grin on her face.
“You are in so much trouble,” she taunted as she stopped at the fridge. Penny wanted to help Luce get ready, so I hated to think what that meant.
“Since the day I laid eyes on her,” I chuckled speaking the truth.
“I’m glad you found her Logan, she looks good on you. I’m happy for you.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as she came for a hug.
“You can tell me anything, you know that, right?” I offered. Killing the poor sap who hurt her was not a question she needed to ask.
“I’m fine, really. I need to sort through a few things first.” Sadness laced her features but my eyes focused on the doorway and my heart about stopped.
I was in so much fucking trouble it wasn’t funny.
Lucy looked like a Goddess, and that dress would be equally amazing on my bedroom floor.
“Is it too much, I don’t want to... well,” she blushed but looked so uncertain. I closed the distance between us. She wore a simple red sun-dress but with her soft skin it looked deadly. Her long legs looked longer as the hem brushed on her thighs. Her dark hair was hanging down over her shoulders. Lucy’s natural beauty shone through. And it worried her that she would look like trailer trash. Not my Luce, she looked like a Queen.
“You look amazing, too good really.” My arm snuck around her waist and I pulled her to my chest. Her small hands landing on my pecs. “Panties?” her eyes widened but her cheeks turned the color of her dress, and I had my answer. Fuck tonight would be hard knowing she wore nothing under that dress. I let a hand snake over her behind and tug up the hem a little until my hand grazed the globe on her ass.
I growled while Penny mock gagged behind me, a good sign I needed to move this along.
We said our goodbyes and headed to town.
It was onl
y a ten-minute drive, but my hand kept being drawn up her skirt and the little vixen would part her thighs and welcome me. I brushed my finger through her damp folds, knowing I’d be able to smell her on my hand over dinner. I was rock hard and begging for release.
A few people stopped and looked at us as the waitress showed us to our booth, I tried my hardest not to glare at the fuckers. We’d be the talk of the town tomorrow and I wasn’t sure that was the kind of attention we needed at the moment.
I opted to sit across from her knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her but it was hard. The ‘V’ of her dress skimmed over her soft breasts, I wanted them in my mouth.
“Stop it,” she kicked me under the table pulling me out of my thoughts.
“What?” I asked confused. She motioned to her boobs and glared at me, but it just made me smile.
“They’re mine, I’ll appreciate them if I want to.” I’d do a lot more than that later on.
We ordered and made small talk. I kept the chat on safe subjects, letting Lucy relax. I wanted her content like that more often. In the short time it took for her to steal my heart Lucy grew as a woman. I was proud of the woman she became. Sitting here tonight she looked every bit like the Queen she truly was.
We finished eating when Lucy’s body language changed. She put her head down, her dark locks shielding her face and she turned a little to face the window. I turned to let my eyes scan the restaurant. They pulled up when they landed on her mother.
“You want to go?” I reached across the table needing to touch her, but she shied away and I wasn’t having that at all. “Lucy,” I demanded, waiting for her to turn and she did. “Don’t pull away from me, ever.” As soon as she nodded, I pulled out cash for the bill and ushered her out of the booth. We hurried, and both had eyes on the front door but we didn’t quite make it.
“Lucy,” her mom spoke, making several people turn and stare.