“Into the stall, Hannah Brown. This stud wants to mount his mare.” Brady took her hand and swung the gate open to the next stall. Since she was pregnant with Wade’s baby, Brady could fuck her with no sheath separating them. Also, since she was pregnant, she was extra horny. She truly wanted a cock inside her every moment of the day and night.
The stall was thick with hay and they tumbled onto it, fumbling with their clothes. Hannah got on all fours and Brady mounted her from behind while pawing her breasts. They were quieter than the horses, but not by much. The cries from the mare and snorts of success from the stallion spurred Hannah and Brady on and they satisfied each other quickly. Still in the throes of passion for each other, they undressed completely. Brady played with Hannah’s body the way she liked until she shook with need. He lay flat and Hannah impaled herself onto his swollen cock and rode him as if he were a galloping steed. He used his palm as a riding crop and spanked her ass to spur her on. The second release was longer and stronger than the first.
For several minutes they lay side by side and played with each other. Hannah stood up to get dressed, but Brady wasn’t finished with her yet. He turned her back to him and she placed her hands on the boards of the stall. She bent slightly to give him access to both her pussy and her ass. Hannah was wet enough and ready for any way he wanted to fuck her.
This time, with his cock still dripping, he chose her ass, but pushed his fingers in and out of her pussy as he thrust. “I love you,” he murmured in her ear as he spurted. Hannah came seconds after him.
They laughed as they helped each other dress and trailed hay all the way into the house, still pawing each other. No one was around so they ran upstairs and bathed together. Hannah sucked Brady into readiness and he fucked her standing up in the tub.
Brady helped Hannah dress. “Are you coming to the nursery with me?”
“I’ll pop in for a moment, but I have an appointment at two in town.”
“Another real estate deal?”
“Possibly. I’ve run into few unscrupulous dealers and I’m happy to be my own broker. I go over all specs and all contracts after they’ve been approved by lawyers. The town council meets tonight at seven. Remind Wade he has to be there. We have to show solidarity if we want the wharf area cleaned up.”
“I will round him up and drag him to the Town Hall. He doesn’t seem too interested in anything lately. As you said, he’s not been fun to be around.”
“See if you can get him to talk about it. I know he misses ranching, yet he does nothing toward finding land to start his own spread. I’ve urged him to time and time again and he agrees it’s a good idea, but does nothing.”
Brady combed his hair with his fingers and went to the door. “Tomorrow, I’ll go with him and we’ll find an existing ranch or some acreage to buy. I’ll buy it for him myself if he doesn’t move on it.”
“Thanks. Hey, wait for me.” Hannah put the last comb in her hair and followed him to the nursery.
That evening in the bedroom after a roaring fight with bar owners at the town meeting, Wade brought up the war again. “I think I’ll go to New Mexico and help push back the confederates trying to make an incursion into the west. We can’t have them conscripting our young men.”
Hannah turned from the wardrobe where she’d slipped on a cotton shift for bed. “Wade, I’m tired of fighting this battle with you. If you’re determined to get yourself killed or maimed, go.”
Brady entered the room and skidded to a stop in the doorway. “Whoa, Nellie. Why the storm clouds on both your faces?”
Hannah threw off the shift she’d just donned and jumped under the covers. “Come to bed, Brady. Wade is on his way to New Mexico to fight the war.”
“I’ll be back, Love.” Brady threw her a kiss. “Come on, Wade, we need to talk.” He grabbed his friend’s arm and dragged him from the room.
Hannah heard them arguing as they descended the stairs. Perhaps she should stop trying to reason with Wade and let him go if it’s what he really wanted. He wasn’t happy here doing what he thought of as nothing. Maybe if he got a taste of what war was really like, he’d come back and be content to be safe in his home warmed by a roaring fire rather than crouching in a sodden ditch.
About a quarter of an hour went by before Brady returned to Hannah’s side. “He feels less than a man letting others do the fighting for a cause he believes in. I can do nothing. He’s determined to go.”
“Is he coming to bed? Maybe I can fuck him into changing his mind.”
“You can’t, love. Let it go. Now, I’m a different story. I didn’t have near enough of you this afternoon.” He pulled the covers off her and positioned his head between her legs. “Lie back and enjoy.”
She did. He licked her nether lips until they were moist, then sucked them into his mouth and nibbled. She gasped. He licked and sucked and tongued her until she writhed and grabbed handfuls of the sheet next to her. “Fuck me now, Brady.”
“No, no, come for me, love. I want to taste you.” He bent to his task again and she came for him and for herself. He slid up beside her as she was coming down from the orgasm and held her. Moments later she was down on him sucking and licking and eventually swallowing. They slept entwined until early morning. Brady mounted her once more before going off to the wharf to watch over a shipment of gold designated for the North’s coffers.
A week later Wade left with a contingent of San Franciscan men to protect New Mexico. Hannah refused to cry until he left. Princess, still waving long after the caravan was out of sight, said, “Take care, Papa. I love you.”
The tears on Hannah’s cheeks were mopped up with a lace hanky for her daughter’s sake, but those in her heart she feared would never stop if the man she’d loved since her teens didn’t return.
Hannah turned to Princess. “Let’s ask your nanny if she would join us on a field trip and picnic by the lake. Some bird-watching and flora labeling should be in order on such a lovely day.”
Princess clapped her hands and ran inside. Hannah dropped to the ground and sobbed. She allowed herself one minute, then gathered her wits and went to join her daughter.
Brady met her in the front doorway. “I stayed away so you could have your family goodbye. Wade and I parted days ago when he would not see reason.”
“Will you join us, Princess, Nanny, and me, for a picnic?”
“I wish I could. No, I’m going down to the docks. A shipment of gold is leaving and I want to be on hand in case there’s trouble.”
Hannah kissed his cheek, but he pulled her close. “I know Wade was your first love, but I hope I can make you happy until he comes home. And he will come home, you know. How could he not with you waiting for him? Besides, I don’t think he’ll see much action in New Mexico.”
“Why is he going, then?”
He feels very strongly about slavery. His parents were sharecroppers to a ruthless man who used his mother as his unwilling mistress when his father was out working in the fields. His mother sent Wade on errands to get him out of the way, but he knew. He confronted her once and his mother cried and begged him not to tell his father. Their livelihood depended on her keeping the boss happy. A few days later, afraid he would talk, she threw Wade out of the house. I believe he was only twelve.”
Hannah’s hands covered her mouth for a second. She bowed her head. “I never knew about his early years. He was on his own when he was but a year older than Princess.”
“Yes, and he felt abandoned until he came to realize he could do no more about it than his mother could. They were for all intents and purposes slaves to the man who owned the land and also to his overlord.”
“Why did he never confide this story to me? I would have better understood why he felt he had to fight. Now he is able to do his part, and back then he couldn’t. He never wanted to feel that impotent again. I completely understand.”
“He was ashamed he didn’t save his mother. By the time he went back to deal with the landowner, his father wa
s dead and his mother had married the overlord. She begged Wade to go away and stay away. She now had a comfortable life, so he never bothered her again.”
Princess plopped down next to Hannah. “Mama, Nanny Grace is almost ready to go and the cook has fixed us a lunch. Are you coming, Papa Brady?”
He picked her up and swung her in the air to her squeals of delight. “No, Princess, I can’t come today. But I want you to take notes and tell me all about it later at supper.”
“Okay. I’ll run to get my journal.” She was off again and like proud parents, Hannah and Brady watched her zip up the porch stairs with silly smiles on their faces.
“She seems to weather all hardships, even her father’s absence.” Hannah wrapped her arms around herself in the cool August breeze.
“Truly, what hardships has she had? A broken doll, a lost toy? And Wade left only moments ago. She doesn’t yet understand what his going to war means.”
“Of course you’re right, and I am very grateful she doesn’t understand about war. She has lost her father this time and he may come home broken. It will take a while before she realizes Wade won’t be home to kiss her goodnight for a long, long time.”
Brady put his arm around her and walked her inside.
Weeks, then months went by with no word from Wade. Finally, news from New Mexico reached them via newspapers delivered by ships docking at the wharf. Southern forces had pulled back and the contingent from California by their mere presence had discouraged the rebels from trying any further encroaching on the west.
Hannah breathed her first easy breath since Wade left after hearing he’d never had to do any serious fighting—or so she assumed from these accounts. Every day she searched the mail for a letter. Wade’s letter did not come, but his baby did. Joel Tolliver was born, with the help of a midwife, on December 1, 1862.
The baby’s first Christmas present was a visit from his father. Wade returned in time for the Christmas festivities, although he would not take part in anything. He had been shot twice, once in the knee and once in the chest. One lung was perforated and he had to use a cane for support lest his knee collapse under him. His being alive at all was a miracle, but he could not accept living in his incapacitated state. Riding a horse was still possible, but no roping or other ranch work was in store for him in the near future.
Fucking Hannah hard was his main source of pleasure. Brady’s soothing words for him to take more care with Hannah’s body held no sway. He wanted her night and day, more out of boredom than desire, she thought. But in her sympathy for his plight, she could refuse him nothing, especially not her body when fucking him was the only time she felt close to him. Often after a particularly rough session, she would crawl into Brady’s bed for comfort. Sometimes, Brady gently fucked her. Sometimes he simply held her and let her fall asleep in his arms. Whenever shipments of gold were not leaving the bay, Brady searched the surrounding areas for land.
After two weeks of disappointment, he rode into the yard dusty and worn out. “Good news,” he shouted to Wade and Hannah who watched him from the front porch swing. “I need a bath. Meet me upstairs in the master bedroom in half an hour.
Wade shot Hannah a questioning look. “I hope this means we are fucking you together. He seems not to want it that way anymore.” He rubbed his crotch. “I’m ready.”
Hannah bit her lip to keep from crying. This was not her Wade. She shrugged. “I’ve no idea what he means.” She did have an idea and prayed she was right. She took Wade’s arm as a support for his leg as they stood to go inside. He brushed her off and groped for the cane he’d left leaning against the railing.
Again, she bit her lip so as not to cry from the rejection. With a long, slow intake of breath, she followed Wade’s halting steps into the house and up the stairs. They waited in an upstairs sitting room while Brady bathed.
A few minutes later Brady sauntered into the room wearing a robe and combing his hair. “I’ve found it.”
“Eureka,” scoffed Wade. “What have you found, another gold mine?”
“Not a mine, a ranch. It’s a couple of hours away, three to be exact, but it’s perfect.”
“Perfect for what, for who? I hope you don’t mean for me.” Wade stood and walked slowly around the settee, holding on to its wooden frame for support to his knee. “I can’t rope or plow or plant a plot from a horse, which is the only way I can get around.” He slammed his hand against the wood. “What would I do with a ranch?”
Hannah plumped up the pillows his head had rested on before he rose. “Actually that’s not completely true, Wade. You can sit behind a team to plow and fertilize a meadow.”
Brady took up the cause. “Every ranch needs a boss. You know that. We have money enough to hire people to do whatever you can’t or don’t want to do yourself.”
Wade reached for his cane and used it to limp to the bedroom. He stomped to the wardrobe and pulled off his pants holding on to a shelf. “I want to fuck. Are you joining us, Brady?”
Resigned, Hannah slipped out of her own dress and slip and helped Wade with his shirt before removing her stockings and garters. She avoided Brady’s stare, but felt it all the same. He was ready to burst out at Wade and she was determined not to let them argue.
When Wade was naked, he limped to the bed and sat on the edge. “I could take a look at the place, I guess. How many acres?”
Brady settled in a chair as his friend scratched his head, his chin on his chest. Hannah held her breath as she removed her bandeau and bloomers. Please let him take an interest, she prayed, then joined Wade on the bed.
“I guess I could see to everything running smoothly from the back of a horse. How many acres, Brady?”
“Right now only about ten thou, but lots of room to access more if you want.”
“You going to help me run it?”
“Only when you need me and that won’t be much once we hire the hands. This will be your project.”
At last Wade smiled and Hannah exhaled. She kept her voice upbeat and positive. “It would be a great place for the children during school vacations. I intend for them to attend a private school here in San Francisco once Joel is old enough. And Princess has her music lessons and ballet here. But for vacations and summers, a ranch will be ideal. It will give them work to do and a practical education.”
Wade gave her a stern look. “So, you’re not planning to live with me if I buy this ranch? I’m being put out to pasture where a cripple belongs.”
Hannah placed her hands on her hips, her fury getting the best of her. “Dammit, Wade, nobody is trying to get rid of you. And you are not crippled. You have a bit of a limp that will get better over time. All we want is your happiness.” She slipped under the covers. “Of course I will live with you. Sometimes at the ranch, other times, here. You won’t need to be at the ranch every minute. You’ll stay here when you can or travel back and forth for the children’s sake. The distance is not a problem except during peak times for the ranch or for business here. We’ll work it out.”
“I’m not saying I’ll do it, but I’ll look the place over tomorrow.” He threw the covers aside and held Hannah. “Now let’s get back to doing what we do best. Joining us, Brady?”
“You bet.” Brady shucked himself free of clothes and lay on the other side of Hannah from Wade. “What’s your pleasure tonight, ma’am?”
“I want all three of us connected in love tonight on the eve of our new venture.”
The men petted her and took turns kissing her until she cried out, “Somebody fuck me. I’m about to burst.” Brady lay flat and she straddled him, sighing as she slid down on his prodigious cock.
Wade caressed her bottom and inserted two fingers loaded with cream. She leaned her chest onto Brady, giving Wade access to her ass and he slid in slowly, tantalizing her.
“Oh, I love this so much. Stop playing, Wade, and get serious. Ram me hard.”
He pulled out and plunged hard and fast making her gasp. “That’s the way I like
it.” She bounced up and down on Brady as he held her hips and sucked her nipples. After all these years of being together, they had the rhythm synchronized.
Wade shouted out his release first and slapped her ass as he withdrew. Hannah began her orgasm with the slap. Wade slapped harder and she responded by screaming her joy loud enough to rattle the windows. Brady pumped her hard once she came and quietly whispered his love in her ear. At last they were what they’d been at the beginning, a wife and her husbands making plans for the future and fucking as one entity.
They bathed and opened a bottle of wine, drinking half and licking half from each other’s bodies. They went to bed for one more round where Wade and Brady changed positions. For the first time in long months, they slept three in the bed and awakened happier than they had been in months. They had one more round of lovemaking before the three of them took the horse and carriage out to inspect the ranch property.
Wade became enthused about something for the first time since returning from his stint in the war. They came to an agreement with the property owner on the spot. Hannah made all the arrangements in the next few days and as soon as the deed was signed, threw herself into designing the ranch house according to specifications that would disguise their family’s lifestyle.
Wade interviewed cowboys, field hands, cooks, housekeepers, and local teenagers who wanted after-school jobs. Hannah was in on all final decisions when it came to household staff, but other than that she was grateful to have Wade absorbed in a project, healing and happy again. Princess loved having a place to corral her pony with room to let him roam. Peaches liked to run and the city home had limited space for that. The big horses could climb the foothills, places where the pony could not go.
Within the year, the ranch was running smoothly and had been expanded to include much of the neighboring land. Because of their experiences with gold, they made certain all mineral rights were legally theirs, although they had no intention of digging for gold or ore of any kind.
Idylls don’t last long, however, and soon Hannah became faced with another dilemma. She and Brady became closer as Wade spent more time at the ranch and Brady’s lessons had expanded to reading literature that Hannah loved so much. Their evenings were often spent reading to each other in a private library next to the master bedroom and discussing their thoughts on a myriad of subjects. Since Rocco left, Hannah had missed the intellectual discussions she’d had with him.
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