by Reece Butler
“Can’t think of anything to tell. But I’ve got something to ask.”
His whole body stiffened, including the arm that pressed her into his chest. She fought to escape, managing to sit up and look down on him.
“What is it, Jed?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it. He wiped his hand over his face and then scrunched his eyes shut. Then he opened them. Chocolate-brown eyes pleaded with her.
“Is something wrong?”
“Not unless you say no,” he rasped
“To what?”
“To marrying me again.”
He’d thrown the words at her, saying them so fast she had to think to figure out what he’d said. He stared up at her, his jaw clenched and eyes now hooded in uncertainty. The hand that rested on her knee trembled. She held back the happiness that bubbled inside, ready to explode. Would he demand another civil wedding so he wouldn’t have to say he loved her?
“Why?”
He blinked, stunned. “Why do I want to marry you?”
She nodded. Now she was the one who trembled.
“There’s this other woman,” he said.
Her heart almost stopped. “What!”
She tried to leap out of the bed, but he gripped her. He held up his hands.
“She’s my Aunt Chrissie, Clint’s mother. I never even came close to loving anyone else.” The words gushed out of him, and then he stopped. He smiled up at her, his lips pressed tightly together. “Until you,” he whispered. “We talked to Judge Thatcher. He said Lily and Rosa would be happy to share their wedding day with you, on Friday.”
“Oh, Jed!”
She flopped down on him, tucking her head under his chin and hugging his shoulders. He hesitantly placed his hands on her back. Then she realized what else he’d said. She pushed on his chest to look at him.
“It’s only Sunday. Friday isn’t for five more days!”
He winced. “I know. The preacher can’t get here until then.”
“But I want to go home right now!”
“Home, meaning the J Bar C?”
She drew a finger down Jed’s shirt, from his collar to his belt. When she got to his belt, she traced the buckle. He inhaled a gasp.
“Was that a yes?” His voice squeaked.
“I want to wait until I’m home to answer that,” she murmured. Her finger traced the hard ridge of his cock. “I need to see if this fellow still works.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Aren’t you going to put everything away?”
Jed leered at the woman who would soon be his wife, again. She’d taunted him the whole time he took care of his horse. She rubbed her nipples, unbuttoned her shirt to the dark, mysterious place between her breasts. By the time his horse joined the others, he was harder than he’d believed possible.
“That’s for Clint and Riley to do. I’ve got more important things on my mind.”
“Such as what?”
She backed up, matching him step by step as he slowly stalked her to the house.
“Such as proving all my parts are in good working order.”
He unbuttoned his shirt. She turned and hurried inside. He followed, stopping right inside the door. He tossed his shirt aside and stared at her. She stood, arms behind her and eyes wide, watching him. Her glorious chest heaved with every breath. He knelt and removed his boots without breaking her gaze. His pants followed.
When he was naked, she broke her gaze, sliding it down his body to rest on his cock. She licked her lips as if remembering his taste. He looked down. A drop trembled. He caught it on his finger before it could fall. Holding it out, he stepped toward her. She opened her mouth and sucked his finger in. His cock jumped as if her lips were clamped just as hard on it.
He kissed her cheek, barely touching her skin. The first time he’d been too quick, too eager. He was just as wanting now, but wanted to prove that he could take it slow. After all, she hadn’t said yes to him yet. He knew she would, but just in case, he wanted to build up the tension until she was screaming for him.
He touched his lips and fingers to her skin, claiming a trail around her neck to her throat. There were only a few buttons left. He took his time with them, slowly exposing a larger slice of skin with each one. He had to kiss and caress each new inch, of course. He finally dropped her shirt and started on her shift. One layer of thin cotton between his mouth and fingers, and her skin.
Moving even slower than with her shirt, he undid the first button. She snarled something and reached to pull it off. He caught her hands. He put her wrists together and held them with his left hand, behind her back.
“You realize it’s going to take me even longer using one hand?”
Jed suckled her nipple, making it so wet he could see it through the white cotton. It stood up, proud and happy to see him. Victoria, however, wasn’t happy. She was aroused, and needy, and wanting his cock inside her, if he believed what she kept telling him.
He took his time, until finally her breasts were exposed. He had to let go of her hands so he could hold them. He slid his hands down to her waist and turned her so she faced away. He lifted her breasts, one in each palm, and weighed them. Were they bigger, or did he just not remember what a lucky man he was to have all this bounty? He caressed her nipples with his thumbs. She arched.
“Oh, yes!”
He explored the back of her neck with his lips, dragging them across her skin. He loved it when her skin shivered at his touch. Her responses proved she was his woman. His to love and share with his cousins. Between them, to grow a family.
He nipped the tendon in her neck and then kissed it gently. Her hair beckoned him. She kept it tightly controlled in public, wrapped and twisted and piled on her head. The fact that others couldn’t see it down made taking it down even more arousing.
One by one, he slid her pins out. He did it like a puzzle, trying to see how long he could make it last. At first only wisps and tendrils fluttered past her ears. He nibbled her right earlobe, sucking the small piece of flesh into his mouth and holding it with his teeth for a moment. Wondering what it felt like, he bent his head, offering his ear to her. She nipped him, hard. The sharp pain made him feel fully alive. He groaned.
“I should do that when you’re lying on me, just as your cock explodes,” she murmured.
A jolt of lust shot to his balls at the thought. He gritted his teeth and fought to hold on. “I’m trying to make this last,” he moaned. “Thinking of you doing that doesn’t help.”
Victoria laughed and shook her head. He groaned even louder as her hair slipped over her shoulders and down.
“You are making this so hard.”
She reached behind her and brushed her hand against his cock. “You’re right!”
He had to speed this up. He opened her skirt button and pushed it down. Her petticoats followed. They caught on his cock for a moment, but he untangled himself and let them fall.
Now he would make her squirm.
When he drew his palm over her belly, just barely touching, she quivered. Her skin rippled, and her breath hitched. He teased her, drawing in small circles, letting his little finger almost touch her clit. He rested his eager cock on the hollow of her lower back and lifted her breasts again. She reached behind her back and did the same to his balls. He waited, wanting to know what she would do. She scraped her fingernails over them, and he damn near hit the ceiling.
Jed dropped his hands to her waist, lifted her, and carried her toward the stairs at the back of the cabin.
“Put me down. I can walk.”
“Hush. I want to carry you.”
She squirmed so much he had to put her down or drop her. As soon as she gained her feet, she scrambled for the stairs. When she got to them she bent over and climbed them, placing her palms down, as well as her feet. He followed, loving the sweet, tantalizing view of her ass and pussy. One cheek of her ripe peach of an ass moved, and then the other, as she slowly climbed the stairs. When she got to the top, she sto
od and tried to run. He caught her around the waist before she made it to the bed.
“I want you in me,” she demanded. “Now!”
“You’ll have to wait until I’m ready.”
“I felt your cock. You’re ready enough!”
His cock could wait. He wanted to taste her again. He laid her across the bed on her back and pulled her toward him. She bent her knees to hold her heels on the edge of the mattress. He knelt on the floor, clamped his hands on her thighs, and pressed her knees apart to open her up.
“What a beautiful sight,” he murmured. He inspected her with wonder. Women were so beautifully different. Soft and luscious, with interesting curves and hollows to lick, and suck, and insert fingers and tongues and cocks into. He kissed the thighs pillowing his head. Plump and white, just like her breasts. No, not just like. Her thighs had a touch of whisker burn courtesy of Riley. It didn’t stop him nosing his way, sniffing and kissing her pussy.
He glanced up. She watched him with eager eyes. Her nostrils flared, and her breasts rose and fell as she panted. He was no different, unable to take a deep breath.
Swollen red lips pouted at him below golden-brown curls. He used the fingers of both hands find the tiny bud hidden within her nest.
“There she is.”
He touched the crest of her clit with his tongue. Victoria jerked. He inhaled and then tasted her, sliding his tongue between her inner and outer lips.
She grabbed his hair in both hands, trying to guide him back to her clit. The slight pain as she pulled made his balls ache even more. He had to think of a winter blizzard for a moment to stop his release. He teased her then, using only the tip of his tongue in butterfly-light touches. He flicked his way back to that tight ring of muscle that fascinated him.
He placed his palms on her cheeks and pushed up. She rolled, raising her legs and exposing more of her bottom. He moved his palms out, revealing her asshole. He held her there, nosing her ring and tonguing her pussy. Wanting to surprise her, he gathered up her juices with his little finger. He pulled his head back and pressed his finger through her ring. She tightened hard around and arched her back. He twisted his finger as she embraced it tightly. She released his hair to flatten her hands against the sheets as she gasped.
Damn, she responded so much to his touch, every part of her body wanting him. His aching balls throbbed along with every beat of his heart. She smiled up at him and licked her lips, her body open and eager.
He couldn’t take it anymore.
Growling in need, he stood and placed his cock at the entrance to her pussy. She reached for him. Just to be a nuisance, he ran the head of his cock back and forth over and around her lips. The rasp of a stray curl contrasted with her smooth, silky lips. He almost entered her, and then went past to rub her clit. She trembled. So did he. But it would be even better when he entered her.
Her pussy contracted as if reaching for him. He fed it an inch, just his large purple head, tantalizing both of them. There was something about putting his hard cock in her eager pussy that made him feel like he ruled the world. Was it her trust that he would treat her with care and pleasure, meeting her need that burned as hot as his? Or was it the act of a predator, proving that he conquered her flesh, impaling her with himself?
Her tight walls pressed against him as he tenderly forced himself another few inches. He moaned in memory and anticipation. Would he be able to last until she was ready?
He found her clit with his knuckles and squeezed it between them. She grabbed his ass and yanked, making him surge deep into her. She groaned along with him, both panting for a moment. He bent forward and played with her breasts. She pinched his small nipples. The nip of pain swiftly turned to pleasure.
He gave her long, hard strokes, slowly stretching her, and then retreating. She clenched him inside, and he sped up. Needing to hold her hips, he released her breasts and clit. She took over, her hands busy doing what she needed. He tried to pay attention, staring as her busy fingers danced over her clit. He angled up, trying to find a place he found she enjoyed. Once, twice—she gasped and clenched him hard.
He stared at her, giving her what she needed, showing her that she belonged to him, that he would protect her, and love her, and everything else. His balls clenched, the signal shot to his cock, and he erupted.
“Mine!”
“Yes!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Victoria drifted, secure and content now that she was home. She didn’t believe Smythe would leave them alone, but she would be safe. Talking with Sophie and the Pinkertons had shown her that many people left pasts behind them when they came West. Riley’s parents had abandoned him, though at a loving relative’s home. She didn’t know Jed’s story, but he certainly didn’t grow up undamaged either. Clint might be the only one of them having grown up in the kind of home she wanted for her children.
She wanted many of them. If she continued enjoying her husbands, she was likely to have one every few years. James Elliott, Beth’s son, was fifteen months older than his sister. That was a bit close, as she’d prefer eighteen to twenty-four. But, as long as they were healthy, she’d enjoy them.
Perhaps she could speak with Beth at the wedding, to ask about babies. She’d never had much to do with them. Her mother taught her more about how not to conceive, or get rid of a baby, than in birthing or raising one.
A thought hit, and her heart pounded. Her mother, obviously, had regular sex for years, with different men. Had she wanted children, or were she and Cecilia problems that her mother couldn’t make go away? No. Her mother had loved her father at the time.
She would love all her babies, no matter what. She rolled to her feet and then sat abruptly back onto the bed. Her head swam, and she clutched the sheets as the dizziness passed. It must be lack of food. That cup of tea with Sophie was all she’d had since morning. She’d been so worried about Smythe that her stomach was upset. She was only able to eat a piece of dry toast.
Now that she thought of food, she was starving.
“Did she say yes?”
That was Riley’s eager voice.
“Of course. Mind you, she waited for the appropriate moment to scream it out.”
Victoria rolled her eyes at his male pride. But perhaps her refusing to stay on the ranch with them had hurt him deeply. She’d been so upset and muddled at the time that she couldn’t remember her reason for leaving, if she even had one.
“Scream? As in…” Clint, always calm.
“Right after I said she was mine, she said yes.”
“Did you knock her out again?” Riley moaned in complaint. “Damn. I was hoping for a big welcoming kiss.”
“She was so tired that Sophie had her lying down,” replied Jed. “No wonder she’s still asleep. So don’t you complain, Riley Jansen, because you’re the one who kept her up for hours last night.”
“Victoria tell you that?”
“She didn’t have to. I found a touch of whisker burn in places that proved you didn’t just peck her on the cheek and say good night.”
“Sophie figured Victoria would be too tired to cook tonight, so she sent us this bucket of stew,” said Clint.
“I could make biscuits,” said Riley. “Victoria’s getting to like them.”
“I’d rather have the ones Victoria makes,” said Clint.
She smiled to herself. She would also prefer the ones she made. She stood up carefully, but the dizziness had passed. She looked around for her clothes.
Oh, oh. Jed had undressed her downstairs and carried her up. She’d packed her few things away. She would have to walk downstairs naked unless someone would bring her clothes to her. She walked to the hole in the floor where the stairs descended.
“I’ll cook if someone will bring me my clothes.”
Silence.
“We’d rather you come get them yourself.”
She could hear the smile in Riley’s voice. “If I have to come get them, I’m not cooking. Not today, and not tomorrow.�
��
“I’ll bring them.”
She pressed her lips together but couldn’t hold back a smile at Clint using his “I’m the one in charge” voice. She knew why. He was the only one who hadn’t spent time alone with her since she left the ranch days ago. Three days without sex and he would be very eager. Though she’d just woken from fun with Jed, the thought of Clint made her sit back on the bed. She loved it when he took her from behind. He’d think he’d have a chance to see her, maybe kiss her lips and a nipple or two. But he wouldn’t presume more. Clint was the calm, sturdy one of the trio. It made her want to stir him up so he’d lose control.
She heard footsteps on the steps, so she rolled onto her hands and knees. She aimed her pussy at the steps so he’d see her as soon as his head appeared. She turned her head to the left and watched for him.
His eyes found her immediately. He stopped and made a deep, guttural sound. She expected him to rush up the stairs, but instead he stalked her like a cat. He stared at her as he set her clothes on a trunk. He took off his shirt and let it slide off his shoulders.
She squeezed her muscles, anticipating what he’d feel like. Her swollen breasts ached for his hands. He stopped about ten feet away and looked at her. He took his time, as if memorizing her again. She moved her knees apart and lifted her bottom like a mare in heat, eager for a stallion to mount her.
His nostrils flared. His mouth opened in a snarl. He reached her in three steps. But he stopped just behind her. She wiggled her bottom, telling him what she wanted. He slowly, very slowly, unbuttoned his pants. She watched, clenching her pussy in need, as he lifted out his cock. The head was swollen and wet. She licked her lips and stared at it.
“You put your ass in the air like that because you want my cock, Victoria?”
She nodded, smiling in invitation.
Clint rubbed the tip of his cock around her pussy, teasing her at the entrance. She knew he wanted her, but for some manly reason he’d make her wait. He had to prove he pleasured her because he wanted to, not because she demanded it.
He teased her, sliding a finger through her lips and around her clit. Still hot and wet from her time with Jed, she was eager for more. He knew it, and chuckled when she tried to push back onto his cock.