by Penny Dee
She and Honey planned it right down to the last penis balloon. There was going to be all the cheesy elements of a bachelorette party, like a sash and a tiara, and penis paraphernalia that defied the imagination. There was also going to be cake and margaritas, and games like Pin the Junk on the Hunk, and Adult Pictionary.
I promised Chastity I would help her set up, and when I arrived early, I found her already knee deep in decorations.
We were at the home she shared with Ruger. The back deck overlooking the pool was festooned with rose gold and white decorations, including balloons, paper streamers, and a giant foil balloon in the shape of a big pink penis.
“Wow, she’s going to love it,” I said, walking up the steps and taking in all the decorations. “How does Ruger feel about all the penises on his deck?”
“Who do you think hung the balloon for me?” She smiled and rubbed her big belly.
“It looks like you’ve almost got it all done.”
“No way, there’s still so much to do. Would you mind setting up the table while I try to untangle these party lights?”
She looked pale.
“Are you okay?”
She smiled brightly. “Just a bit tired. I’m not sleeping well.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?” I knew she was holding something back. “Is everything okay with the baby?”
She sighed and sat down. “I had a routine doctor’s appointment this morning. The baby is breach, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to turn. But that’s not all. Apparently, I still have placenta previa.”
“Placenta previa?”
“It means the placenta is over the cervix. I knew a while ago, but it usually rights itself as your baby grows. But in my case, it hasn’t.” She gave me a resigned shake of her head. “He’s scheduled surgery for me.”
“For when?”
“Next week. When I’ll be thirty-nine weeks.”
“You’re going to become a mom next week?” My face lit up, and I couldn’t keep the excitement from my voice. “Congratulations. Have you told Ruger?”
“Are you kidding? He’d have me in the hospital right this minute. Just in case something happened.”
“He’s head over heels in love with you. It’s nice.”
“It is, but he’s driving me nuts. Don’t get me wrong, he is the most amazing husband in the world. But sometimes he treats me like I’m a fragile doll.”
“He loves you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
She smiled wickedly. “Like the way my uncle looks at you?”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“Don’t bother denying it.” She raised an eyebrow. “You only need to stand in the same room as you both to see there’s enough electricity between the two of you to light up the entire state of Mississippi.”
Heat went to my cheeks. I thought we’d been discreet.
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” she said with a big smile. “So, do you love him?”
“Love him?” I balked. I mean, there was no way. “This is just a casual thing.”
“Sure, it is.”
“We haven’t really talked about it. You know, defined it. Only that we’re…exclusive.”
Okay, exclusive made it sound more serious than it was. And it fed right into what Chastity already believed, that Bull and I were more than casual.
She nodded her head knowingly, her eyes wide with glee. “A-ha.”
“Do others know?”
“Not yet. But it won’t be long before others notice the chemistry between the two of you.” She thought for a moment. “You know, a lot of people think he’s still hung up over Wendy. That she was it for him. But that’s not the case. I know my uncle, almost as well as my husband—his best friend—does. It’s not her he can’t get over. It’s the guilt he feels. He feels responsible for her and their unborn baby dying. It haunts him.”
“But it wasn’t his fault.”
“I know, but he refuses to believe it. It’s almost as if he feels like he doesn’t deserve to move on. But…”
Her words trailed away.
“But what?”
“It’s probably not my place to say this…but in the last few weeks, he’s changed. There’s something lighter about him.”
“Lighter?”
“Not so dark. Not so weighed down with the guilt.” Her eyes found mine. Her face grew serious. “You’re good for him.”
Warmth spread through my chest.
“It’s just casual, Chastity.”
She waved her hand in front of her beautiful face. “So you say. But while you two are telling each other that, I can see that neither of you really believe it.”
“He told me it can’t be anything more than sex. And I told him I wasn’t interested in anything else.”
“And I can see you’re both lying.”
I blew out a deep breath.
Was I?
Were we?
“Come on, we’ve got some penis balloons to blow up,” I said, deliberately changing the subject. But as I set the table with napkins, paper plates, margarita glasses, and of course, penis straws, my mind replayed Chastity’s words.
Had Bull and I slipped past casual and veered straight into something?
A sudden crash behind me made me jump, and I spun around. Chastity had dropped a tray of glasses and was standing very still, her brows drawn in. She didn’t look so good. Something wasn’t right.
“Are you okay?”
Her eyes shifted to mine. “I don’t know…”
I guided her toward a chair and helped her sit down, then picked my cell phone off the table. “I’m going to call an ambulance.”
“Oh no, I’ll be fine.”
As I rang 9-1-1, I kept my eye on her. All the color had left her face.
Suddenly, she let out a cry and bent over. Reaching for the edge of the table, she cried out again.
Terror swept through me as a bright red stain spread across the fabric of her white dress.
She looked at me with terrified eyes. She was going to pass out. I lunged and caught her as she rolled off the chair, her body going limp, her eyes rolling back in her head.
Cradling her in my arms, I told her she was going to be okay and prayed help would arrive in time.
BULL
While Taylor was at Autumn’s bachelorette party, Ruger and I met with Sheriff Buckman in his office.
“What happened to the girls?” I asked.
“They spent the last few nights in St. Vincent’s. Some of them were beat up pretty bad and dehydrated. Nothing life threatening. But I can’t imagine it’s something they’ll get over real quick.” He shook his head and looked sick. He had three teenage daughters at home. “The hospital will hand them over to the bureau tomorrow morning.”
I nodded. “You find Martel? Or information about where he is?”
“We’re working on it. But you know these things take time.” He gave me a knowing look. “We also haven’t found the driver. Seems he disappeared off the face of the planet.”
“Odd,” I said, without looking him in the eye.
There was nothing odd about it. He was finally doing something good by fertilizing a patch of earth just out of town.
Bucky’s knowing eyes gleamed across at me. “Yeah, I’m sure he just ran off.”
Well, he had tried to run off.
But then I had caught up with him and it didn’t work out so well for him.
“He’s probably resting in some hole in the wall somewhere waiting for the dust to settle,” I said with a reassuring smile.
But Bucky looked weary. “You gotta let me do my job, Bull.”
My smile faded real quick. “If I let you do your job, there would be sixteen girls still being traded and raped, and God knows how many others shoved into the back of an airless truck breezing its way across the delta.”
Ruger’s phone rang and I noticed his brow wrinkle. “I gotta take this,” he said, leaving the room.
Bucky walk
ed to the window and looked out.
“The FBI are involved now. But then, I figured this was part of whatever plan you have to get your revenge on Martel.” He looked over at me. “To save you time hoodwinking me any further, you got someone in the bureau you want made aware of this, as well as the swarm of FBI agents already descending on this town?”
Bucky was right. There was someone I wanted involved. But to get him involved, it needed to happen through official channels. Like the sheriff’s department.
“Special Agent Guy Everett. This will be below his pay level, but if you make him aware, he’ll step in.”
Bucky shook his head in a ‘I should’ve known’ kind of way.
He sighed. “You got this guy in your pocket, too?”
Before I could reply, the door to Bucky’s office slammed open, and a panicked Ruger appeared in the doorway.
“That was Ronnie, we’ve got to get over to St. Vincent’s right away. An ambulance is taking Chastity there now.”
Fear exploded through me.
“What the fuck happened?”
“She collapsed. They think she’s losing the baby.”
Terrified for my niece, we bolted out of Bucky’s office and took off for the hospital.
TAYLOR
My heart pounded with fear as we waited for Bull and Ruger to get to the hospital. I sat with Honey and Autumn in a stiff, panicked silence, my skin chilled to the bone, my jaw shivering in the coolness of the air conditioning.
When sitting became too much, I got up and paced the linoleum floor, wanting to crawl out of my skin, heart sick that Chastity and her baby might die.
There had been so much blood.
By the time the ambulance arrived, her dress had been soaked in red, the blood seeping onto the floor beneath her.
It seemed like hours ago. Where were Bull and Ruger? I chewed at my thumbnail, watching the room fill up with worried family and friends, praying Bull and Ruger weren’t far away.
When they finally arrived, Ruger was ushered through the heavy doors leading into the emergency room, while Bull checked on his sister. Ronnie was a strong woman. There were no tears. No emotional outbursts. She remained calm and stoic, but her face was tight and pale with unspoken fear. Bull took her hands in his, there were no words. A silent understanding passed between them. Chastity was in good hands. She was going to get through this.
Releasing her, Bull turned and scanned the room until his burning gaze found me. He crossed the room so quickly; he was almost a blur. “What happened?”
I told him and he pulled me into his hard chest, one strong arm around me, the other hand tangled in my hair. I could feel the chaotic thud of his heart syncopated to my own. He was a tower of strength and muscle, but his heart belied his tough exterior. He was terrified.
When the doors to the ER opened and Indy appeared, we crossed the room, and I could see the fear on his face as he braced himself for bad news.
As we listened to Indy, he reached for my hand and his fingers tightened around mine. And he didn’t let it go. Even as Indy told us that both mother and baby were doing fine. Even as she said the threat had passed, his fingers remained tangled with mine. It wasn’t until he was absolutely certain that his niece was going to be okay that he released them. With a deep exhale, he pulled me into him and buried his face into my neck, groaning his relief against my throat.
“Where’s Noah?”
“A sleepover.”
“Let me come home with you,” he murmured quietly. “I need you.”
We went back to my apartment, and after we showered, we slipped into bed, naked.
“Just let me hold you,” he rasped, pulling me into his warm body and wrapping himself around me. He was in pain. Tonight, had scared him. He held me to him, and I curled my hands around his thick forearms, gently caressing his warm skin until I felt his breathing ease and his heartbeat calm to a slow thud as he drifted off to sleep.
I awoke a few hours later to the tender caress of his fingers down my back. I sighed; my body aroused. I was on my stomach, my hands curled under my chin. I felt his lips on my skin, felt the tender way he worked me up until I was creamy and ready. He gently raised my hips off the mattress slightly and nudged my thighs apart. He rubbed his cock against me, moaning at my readiness, pressing the slick head through damp skin to pause at my entrance. And then he was inside me and I gasped at the sudden fullness.
“You feel so goddamn good,” he moaned quietly. “So good, baby.”
He rocked into me, his massive body blanketing me, his big arms caging my head as he whispered into my ear the things my body was doing to him, telling me his deepest needs, begging me to be his little bird, wanting me, driving me head first into a slow, torturous climax.
“That’s it, baby, come for me,” he moaned. Then his hips suddenly stilled, and I felt him tense, felt him shudder as he released a deep, masculine rasp, his cock thumping violently against my inner muscles as he came. His head dropped to the nape of my neck. He was panting, and I could feel the emotion wrapped around us as he tried to calm his breathing.
He pulled out from my body, and I felt the sudden loss of his thickness, felt some of the warm liquid leave my body with him, as he rolled onto his back. He dragged me over to him and nuzzled his face into my neck.
“I need you, little bird,” he whispered into the darkness.
I curled into his warmth and pressed my cheek to his chest. “You have me.”
And he did.
He had all of me.
He just didn’t know it.
BULL
Today wasn’t a day for revenge.
Not even one that was as venomous as mine.
Today was for family.
For forgetting.
“So, what do you think?” Chastity asked.
“I think he’s fucking perfect,” I replied, looking down at my grand-nephew secured in my arms. He was a big baby. Healthy. Fucking cute.
Chastity grinned at me. She was propped up against the pillows, her cheeks pink, her eyes sparkling.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Better.” She nodded. “Yesterday is kind of a blur.”
“You gave us all a scare.”
“I know. Thank God, Taylor was there. You should’ve seen her, Uncle Bull, she was so calm. So…I dunno…like she switched on some kind of amazing autopilot. It was almost as if she became someone else.”
“She’s a good person to have around in an emergency,” I said. “I’m just so grateful you and Will are safe.”
When I was leaving the hospital, I got a text from Taylor.
Meet me at Catfish Cove. 7pm.
I met her at seven. She was waiting for me by the No Trespassing sign, a blanket under one arm, and a basket in the other.
“What’s this?” I asked, looking at the bottle of wine and glasses inside the basket.
“After yesterday, I think you deserve a night of fun.”
We walked down to the lake. The moon was full and bathed the shore in bright light. She took my hand, curling her fingers around mine and leading me toward the water.
In the moonlight, her deep brown eyes were like onyx, and I could see the affection gleaming in them.
And the mischievousness.
“What are you up to?” I asked suspiciously.
“Whatever do you mean?” she asked playfully, stepping back and raising an eyebrow. Her fingers started undoing the buttons of her dress. When it slipped from her body she was completely naked underneath.
Instant heat flooded my veins.
This woman was perfect.
And I was hard as fuck.
“You want this?” she asked, her voice teasingly hoarse and throaty. Her hands sweeping up and down her curves.
“Want it?” I stepped toward her. “Baby, what I’m about to do to you is going to answer that question tenfold.”
“Is that right?”
I reached for her and her skin was like silk.
&nbs
p; “You can count on it.”
I went to kiss her, but she turned her lips away. “What are you going to do to me?”
She looked up at me through her lashes, her eyes full of heat.
The challenge was on. Amusement tugged at my lips as I looked into her beautiful face and thought about all the wicked things I was about to do to her body. “I’m going to make you quiver beneath me.”
One eyebrow went up. “Tell me more…”
“I’m going to part those firm thighs of yours and bury my tongue so deep into your pussy, you’ll lose your mind.”
She reached up and her lips lapped at mine, teasingly. “Sounds like torture.”
“It will be desperate torture,” I said, teasing hers right back. “I’m going to make you come on my face.”
“I like the sound of that…”
“And when I finally push my hard cock inside you, you’ll be so damn needy for me, it’ll make you come again…but this time it will come from deep within you…. And it will make you cry out my name.”
“You’re very creative…” Her hand found the hard outline of my cock and started to rub. “And so big…”
I couldn’t help but smile, loving the heat in my little bird’s song.
Fueled by her hand rubbing against me, I continued. “You think you’ve come before. It ain’t nothing like what you’re about to experience. And when you think you’ve had enough, then I’m going to make you come again and again until you beg me to stop.”
“I’m going to hold you to that…”
My hand slid between her thighs and found the slickness in the warm, velvety skin. I hissed in a deep breath, my body tightening, my cock getting even harder because she was so damn wet.
“You’re soaking,” I breathed out.
“Because my man is about to blow my mind.” She licked her lips and gave my erection an enticing squeeze. “There’s just one thing…”
She pulled her mouth from mine and stepped away.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
She gave me a wicked grin. “You’ll have to catch me first.”
Turning, she ran to the edge of the water and crashed through the shallows of the lake, diving into the moonlit water. When she resurfaced, water burst upward and danced in the air like diamonds.