by Dace Everan
Jariko grabbed her arm, pulling her around. “No…we didn’t know she was your daughter. We would have felt guilty if your belongings were handed to the wrong person…where’s your husband?” Kendal stared, jaw slack at the blunt question. Jariko looked like a predator ready to pounce.
Mag glared up at him, and her heart stung just a little that time. She had always hated that question, when people showed up and asked to speak to the man of the house. They always assumed her being out here all on her own was impossible. She notched her chin. “Dead,” she muttered.
Jariko’s whole façade softened. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Dark angry eyes melted to an emerald that reminded Magan of the softest moss deep in the forests. She shrugged her arm from his grasp, ignoring the tremors of desire licking her center. She spotted the sledgehammer. “You found my hammer,” she uttered. She had thought she had brain farted and forgotten to even pack it.
Jariko nodded. “Thought it was a little too new to be lying out in the middle of nowhere,” he commented. Kendal stared, unsure of what to do. She obviously didn’t want them there. He watched as Jariko removed his shirt, and fuck if his cock didn’t spring to life. Jariko plucked the hammer from her grasp. “You’re pounding in new posts?” he asked, crossing to the first pole she had placed in her first hole.
Mag nodded, swallowing deeply, eyes drifting over his tight, muscled abs. Ah holy mother her pussy was weeping again. Images of him pounding her flooded her thoughts.
“Kendal, make your cute self useful. Start on the next one, loosen it up for Magan,” he ordered.
Magan stepped up, shaking her head in disagreement. “I can do it just fine,” she argued.
Jariko nodded. “I’m very aware you can. I thought we could help,” he offered, nodding to Kendal to get to it.
Mag slumped, looking back at the one she had been struggling with. She unclipped her iPod and placed it in her basket, brows arching as she spotted a whack load of sandwiches, a couple of containers, and two bottles of wine. She furrowed her brows. Did her daughter know what was happening with these two men?
Kendal made quick work of loosening the fence post, heaving and hoeing as he had seen Magan doing. His palms burned from the manual labor, and his arms liked the burn of being used physically. He stopped four posts later, glancing back. “How far am I going?” he asked.
Jariko chuckled. “All the way, boy,” he teased. Kendal grinned.
Mag couldn’t hold back the smile. “One more,” she murmured, tugging out posts she had already loosened and carrying them to the quad trailer, grabbing new ones for Jariko to hammer in. When Kendal finished, he followed up with the shovel, filling the holes and packing them.
“You’ve done manual labour, Kendal?” Jariko asked.
Kendal nodded. “Worked on a ranch for a few years when I was a teenager,” he replied.
Mag glanced at him, ready to comment.
Jariko beat her. “What was that, last year?”
Kendal’s fist leapt out and cuffed Jariko’s shoulder. “Fuck you…ten years ago! Thanks much,” he grumbled. He hated being pointed out how much younger he was than the two of them like he was a third wheel.
Jariko chuckled, pulling him close, his hand pulling Kendal’s hair and forcing his head back. His lips caressed Kendal’s. Magan whimpered, pussy drenching at the sight of the two in each other’s arms. She licked her lips.
Jariko smirked. “It’s called a joke, pup.” He licked Kendal’s lower lip.
Kendal buckled, Jariko grinned. Right where he liked his lovers, in his arms, eyes begging for more. His mouth crushed hungrily to Kendal’s. His tongue swept into Kendal’s mouth and he groaned.
Mag wasn’t sure if she should crawl on or sit down and take a break and hope they continued?
Jariko pulled away, his hand cupping Kendal’s face. “Be a good boy and quit acting like a child. Take a joke, pup,” he ordered.
Kendal swallowed, inhaling a ragged breath. How the hell had he done that? One minute he was calling him a boy then his hot mouth was demanding every part of him, and now he was still demanding every part of him but making him feel like a man.
Mag cleared her throat. “You two should leave. You’re terribly distracting,” she declared, passing them with another rotted post and grabbing a new one.
Jariko watched her. Shit, she just wouldn’t stop. “If it makes you feel better feel free to join,” he offered, releasing Kendal and making sure he was steady before completely letting go of him.
Kendal inhaled a few steady breaths, returning to work, Jariko back to pounding post.
“Why would you work on a ranch?” Mag asked after a few minutes. She was no farm girl by any means. She had grown up in a town but when she had children, her and her dearly departed ex had lived on an acreage and she had loved it.
Kendal shrugged. “I needed…” He furrowed his brows. How had his parents phrased it? “To redefine my attitude?” He shrugged.
Jariko chuckled. “Your parents sent their unruly son to a ranch?” he mumbled.
Mag glared at him. Goodness, was he rude. “I sent my son to military school the first slipup he made! My daughter followed a year later,” she replied, and both men looked at her.
Kendal released a loud whew. “Glad you’re not my mother. I would have not done well there. The ranch I was on at least had pretty girls I could tease,” he declared rather proudly.
Mag laughed. “My son met his fiancée at the school I sent him to. They are both going to be pilots.”
Jariko whistled. “Tried that, fun for a while,” he offered. “Sucks when you’re shot down and you’re on foreign grounds and don’t know who you’re supposed to be shooting at.”
Mag stared openmouthed at him. She stood. “You served?” she mumbled.
Jariko scoffed. “Hardly call flying a jet over innocent people and dropping bombs serving,” he grumbled, hammer slamming the post.
Kendal looked at Jariko’s broad, naked back. “You killed people,” he rasped. Holy shit, he didn’t know that. He thought Jariko was an architect! He had seen all the blueprints in his house.
Jariko snorted. “What do you do now, Kendal…you worked on a ranch? Were you ever sent to any boarding schools?” He assumed that was where he got his preference for men.
Kendal slumped. “Who cares, you fought.”
Jariko stopped, huffing and looking at him. “Would you like to sit in my lap while I tell you bed time stories, too, son?” he mocked.
Mag burst out in laughter. She couldn’t believe the grumpy old bastard mocked Kendal like that. “Sorry, Kendal, that was cute.” She held back the laughter, still trying to escape.
Kendal rolled his eyes. “Can we finish…think I want to go home,” he grumbled. He couldn’t believe Jariko just did that, and in front of Magan.
Mag’s heart wept. She crossed to him, arms hugging his sweaty shoulders. “You can’t go home yet…You haven’t seen my river and you haven’t eaten lunch and I never send a man away tummy empty after working for me…” she coaxed.
Kendal stared at her. Was she offering her pussy up for lunch? ’Cause that was all he wanted to eat.
Mag’s lips twitched in a smile. “Oh, I like that,” she whispered, cheeks turning a bright red. Shit! What the hell was she thinking?
Jariko laughed. “Come on, you two, back to it! Want to see this river and eat too. Go, Kendal, tell us your life story…yours is the shortest. Mag, your next,” he ordered. Mag smiled. That would be easy. She was a mom…so boring.
Kendal grunted. “I dance,” he mumbled.
Jariko stopped and looked at him. “What kind of dancing?” he asked, leaning against the post.
Kendal smirked. “I could make the post prettier than you,” he offered. Damn, he made good money stepping up on stage. It wasn’t too often his routine involved a pole, but he could work one pretty good.
Both men looked at Mag as she released a sharp breath. “You’re a stripper!” she
gushed. She was kneeling on the ground, and shit if she didn’t look like she was begging for a treat. Both men’s hearts melted.
Kendal nodded.
Jariko puffed out his chest in pride for Kendal. Took balls to get up and move the way those men did. He could never do that and held a respect for the ones who could. “Where at?” he asked.
Kendal blushed. Jariko and Mag’s hearts softened at the sweet blush. “Down at Sixty-Ninth,” he murmured.
Mag whistled. “I’ve been—heard of that place,” she said, quickly correcting herself, blushing brighter than Kendal had.
Jariko chuckled. “And she likes to watch the men shake it!” he replied lightly.
Mag stood, hands on her hips. “I’ll have you know my daughter dragged me there!” she argued.
Jariko laughed. “Did she drag you out last night, too?” he asked. Mag turned a dark red. Jariko smiled softly. “We’ll have to thank her then won’t we,” he replied, turning back to the post. “Your turn, Mag…you were done, tiny dancer?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder and shooting Kendal a smoldering look. Kendal nodded. Most definitely, he wanted to know what the beautiful Magan did.
Mag grunted, grabbing another post. “I…” She frowned.
Chapter Seven
“I don’t do anything,” she mumbled, dropping the post in the hole. They wouldn’t want to hear about her boring life…sitting at home typing all day, doing the odd volunteer work, normal things that moms did.
Jariko scoffed. “Nope, you have to do something,” he argued, grunting as the hammer slammed the post.
Mag glanced back at him. “I’m a mom, what else is there to do?” she argued.
Jariko smiled. “See, you do something. How many years have you put into that career? I hear it’s hard, long hours,” he murmured.
Mag stared at him, not sure if he was mocking her. Mag bit her lip. “Twenty-two years,” she mumbled, grabbing up the barbed wire and unravelling it.
Kendal’s head shot up. “What was your favorite part?” he asked. Mag looked at him, surprised he would ask a question like that. Kendal smiled. “My mom’s favorite part was when I moved the hell out of her house,” he offered, a sheepish smile on his face.
Mag scoffed. “Well if you were sent to a ranch then a boarding school…I suppose that would be my favorite, too, you brat.” She grabbed a smaller hammer and started on the fencing. “For which child?” she asked after a few minutes.
Kendal smiled. “Your son. Obviously your daughter hasn’t moved out,” he replied.
She laughed, glancing at him. “Cute, yes she has, she thinks I need company…she hasn’t figured out I hate people.” She grunted as she was stuck by a barb. She sucked her finger. Her son…“When he came home with Klea…” She struggled with the wire. “He came straight to me, hugged me and whispered in my ear, “I’m gonna marry her, Mom, and we’re gonna live happily ever after forever.” She looked at the two men working with her. “He had always pestered me and his father growing up for not getting married. Went through his stupid phase of ‘I’m gonna be like dad and not marry the chick I knock up.’” She shook her head in annoyance. “Just because I chose not to marry their daddy didn’t mean I didn’t expect that from them.”
Jariko stopped again and stared at her. “You weren’t married to…?” Shit, what was he supposed to call the guy?
Mag smiled. “Love of my life! No. We didn’t have the time or money for that. I was good with what we had,” she murmured. And she had been. They had lived many happy years loving each other.
Kendal smiled. “’Kay, now the harpy?” he asked cheerfully.
Mag laughed. “I’ll be telling her you called her that,” she informed him.
Kendal glanced at Jariko. “I’ll just hide behind him. Daddy will protect me,” he teased. Jariko scoffed, a grin spreading across his chiselled face. Little shit could actually joke. Good sign.
Mag smiled. “When she changed her major and wanted to become a teacher. She will mold little ones for the future,” she replied lightly. Goodness, their father would be proud of them.
Jariko studied her for a moment. “How long since he died, if you don’t mind me asking.”
Mag glanced at him. She furrowed her brows. Had he asked her that two years ago, she would have told him the story of the time the asshole boss called her on the phone and rudely informed her that her man had died on the job. She cleared her throat. “About seven years,” she mumbled. Damn, that was a long time of fucking fake dicks. She inhaled a breath, laughing at her sorry self.
Kendal raised a blond eyebrow. “Should that worry us?” he asked Jariko. He didn’t like that sharp intake of breath, or the look of astonishment on her face. Had she just realized something important and was not liking it? Shit, he couldn’t even imagine what was going through her head.
Jariko shook his head. “Nope, someone’s grasping time,” he murmured.
Mag laughed, looking at him. “That’s a long friggin’ time,” she uttered.
Jariko nodded in agreement. It was a long time.
Kendal plopped down next to her. “Shit, seven years ago I was…” He screwed his face up in thought. “Found in an alley by a friend of mine, high on I’m not sure what.” He looked at Jariko. “You?” he asked, curious what devastation hit Jariko’s life at the time devastation hit theirs.
Jariko wiped his brow. Seven years ago? He chewed his lower lip. Oh yeah, hell. “Nasty divorce…who I thought was the love of my life turned out to be my brother’s,” he commented. His body no longer tensed in that sickening feeling it once had when he had found out about his wife having an affair with his brother.
Mag whistled. “That’s low. Want me to hunt her down and beat the shit out of her?” she offered. “Or him?”
Jariko smiled an honest-to-God, true smile. His heart pounded. “No…she’s not worth the time.”
Kendal scoffed. “Course not, her loss,” he uttered. However, any man or woman could walk away from Jariko…he swallowed. His eyes landed on him. Shit…Shit, shit, shit he loved Jariko! What the fuck was wrong with him! He didn’t just meet people and automatically fall in love! He didn’t believe in that stigma. Love took time and patience and tenderness that grew over time.
Mag smiled. She looked at the two. “You two just met?” she asked again. Both nodded. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You’re so comfortable with each other,” she whispered. It seemed so weird.
Jariko smiled, ushering her away from the barbed wire. “Tie up your load. We’ll finish this,” he offered. Kendal needed distracting. He’d paled all of a sudden, and obviously his thoughts were pretty intense.
Mag nodded, leaving them. When she finished her load she turned to check their efforts. Both men stood like proud cocks looking over the handiwork. She smiled. Typical men. “My daughter said you were a caveman,” she blurted out.
Kendal laughed out loud at the stupid look on Jariko’s face.
Mag blushed. “Sorry,” she mumbled, nerves fraying faster than a pair of eighties’ jeans.
Jariko laughed. “I suppose, depends on how that came about.”
“Told her the whole manner thing…”
Kendal sighed. “Of course you never mentioned me,” he mumbled playfully, hand clutching his heart in mock heartbreak.
She smiled. “I was supposed to…” She frowned. Shit, what was she supposed to do with him? “Oh, check out with you.”
Kendal hooted, crossing to her and hefting her up in his arms, hugging her close and peeking around her at Jariko. “Ha! The daughter likes me more!” He laughed.
Jariko rolled his eyes. “Not since she’s met you, douche,” he reminded him.
Kendal crumpled to the ground, Mag in his arms, hugging her close. “That’s okay…I don’t like the daughter…Her mom now. I really like.” He smirked, cupping Mag’s face and realising how dirty his hands were. Guilt reared through him. She had his handprints on her face. He laughed, his mouth capturing hers in a quick kiss.
“Ha! I marked her first,” he announced.
Jariko settled with them blocking Mag in between them, and his hand grazed down her back.
Mag shivered and scrambled from their grasps, breathless. “You two need cold water. The river is just a few minutes’ walk down the path,” she rambled, grabbing her basket and leading the way.
Jariko sighed, looking at Kendal. Maybe he should leave the two alone. She was comfortable with Kendal…Kendal caressed his cheek. “Maybe you look like her ex?” he offered. Hoped that wasn’t the case…maybe she just feared Jariko? He was definitely an intense man.
Jariko’s lip twitched. He didn’t want to look like the bastard. Shit, why did he die on her and deprive her seven years of a man’s touch?
Mag found her usual spot, pulling the blanket from the bottom of the basket and spreading it out. She looked at the river. All she wanted was to dive in and rinse off. She hated the dirty, dusty feeling all over her. She plopped down and started on her boots. Jariko followed suit, and Kendal all but had to slip his shoes off and in seconds stood butt naked in front of both. His thick erection strained, long, thick, and pulsing, trying to kiss his navel.
Mag stared. Normal men didn’t do that! Strip then stand proudly with their junk hanging out, or standing up, she corrected herself.
Jariko smirked. “Someone’s proud,” he whispered. “Wait till the cold water hits,” he offered.
Mag smiled, glancing at him and softening up. Oh and would it hit. She sighed, shoving her socks in her boots, and stood.
Jariko watched as she waded in, shorts and top on. He shoved his pants down, tossed them into the pile of clothes, and followed in.
Kendal yelped out at the cold, rushing back to Mag. Mag screamed as Kendal’s cold hands groped her, sending chills throughout her.
“Sorry,” he murmured, tugging her top off. Jariko’s hands worked the buttons of her shorts. She squirmed, yelping at cold hands touching, tugging until she stood naked with them. Jariko nibbled her neck while Kendal knelt, and his hot mouth covered her pebbled nipples. Mag whimpered and settled between the two of them, her knees too weak to hold her up. The cold water barely registered in her brain. Jariko’s strong, warm arms held her close, and his thick erection pressed against her back.