by Gigi Moore
The hatred that rained down upon him from the kid’s clear blue eyes was so palpable he had no problem believing that Tanner could have shot Ethan.
“I’m taking you home, Ginger,” Tanner said, and Prentice had a moment to think maybe the chit didn’t have Tanner wrapped around her finger after all. Either that or the kid had finally reached the end of his rope with what he probably saw as her playing hard-to-get games.
Ginger must have noticed the hardness in Tanner’s tone, too, because she put her hand to her throat and gaped up at him. “What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me. You just ought to not be here with him, is all.”
“That’s not your call to make. It’s Ginger’s.” Prentice got to his feet and faced off with Tanner, no mean feat since the kid had a slight height advantage of a few inches. It didn’t matter though. Prentice figured his own anger more than made up the difference.
Prentice almost laughed at the situation. A minute ago he had been eager to get rid of Ginger as soon as he could and would have been glad to let Tanner take her home and off his hands. Tanner’s forcing the issue, however, getting physical with his caveman tactics, just rubbed Prentice the wrong way. God knew, he had his own issues with restraint, but he had a genuine problem when it came to a man putting his hands on or threatening a woman.
“I’m taking her with me. If I have to kill you to do it, then so be it.”
Well, that just escalated.
Prentice knew then, the situation was about to get real ugly.
* * * *
For several moments after his mother left the room, Ki didn’t say a word, just sat on the bed beside Lucy, staring straight ahead, trying to think of something more eloquent to say than I’m sorry. “She’s not as bad as she seems,” he finally murmured, not sure Lucy would believe this after the little scene in the dining room, so it totally surprised him when she said, “I know.”
He turned to her then. “You do?”
“She’s your mother. She’s just looking out for your welfare.”
Ki arched a brow. “What exactly did you two talk about?”
“Fairy tales.”
He grinned, warming up to the subject. “Was it the one where the princess kisses the frog and changes him into a handsome prince?”
“You certainly don’t look like any old frog I know, so if you’re bucking for a kiss, that dog don’t hunt here.”
He had expected the usual aloofness she demonstrated at his romantic overtures, but the smile she gave him was teasing and warm. Ki decided to push his luck and bent his head to kiss her neck. She shivered but not out of displeasure as he trailed light kisses across her skin.
Ki nibbled her earlobe then gently sucked it into his mouth. Lucy’s responding moan was music to his ears.
“Before we do this, there’s something I need to tell you, Ki,” she whispered.
“I’m listening.”
She pulled away from him and cupped his face with both hands.
Ki languidly opened his eyes to the sight of Lucy’s intense, greenish-gray gaze. His heart dropped to his stomach. “What is it?”
“I’ve…I’ve been with men.”
He had heard about her life with Rance from Maia and Sabrina. He had an idea what she was going to say but sensed that she needed to get it off her chest. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay.” She released his face, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a beat, she opened them again and they were glistening with unshed tears.
“Oh, Lucy…” He reached for her face, but she sprang to her feet and folded her arms across her breasts as if to shield herself from his anticipated censure.
“I was sixteen when my daddy sold me to Rance to pay off a gambling debt.”
Now that was news to him, very unpleasant and unbelievable news that made him wish his uncle was still alive just so he could beat him to a bloody pulp and kill him.
“I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“I already know what I’m getting myself into.” Ki stood and pushed a stray strand of Lucy’s hair away from her face as he looked down into her questioning eyes. “Do you know what I see when I look at you, Lucy Benjamin?”
She shook her head.
“I see a young woman who drew the short straw in life and made the best of things, the best way she knew how. I see a woman whose husband tried to browbeat and humiliate her into believing that she was a worthless piece of nothing.”
“That’s about the size of it,” Lucy mumbled.
“But I also see a survivor. You are a survivor, Lucy. You’re stronger and more intrepid than you believe you can be, and you’re not a worthless piece of nothing, not by far.”
“You don’t have to say those things. You don’t have to lie.”
“I’m not lying. It’s true. You are everything that is kind and strong and good in the world, and I know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. You know how I know this?”
“How?”
“There’s this woman, another Lucy I know of, Lucy Walker. When I was a teenager, she was one of my heroes.”
“What did she do?”
“I was sixteen when I heard about her feat and I remember how excited I was because I wanted to do what she had done, but the only thing was I would never be the first like she was.”
“What did she do?”
“Anyone ever tell you patience is a virtue?” He chuckled and Lucy brandished her fist.
“You’re about to get a knuckle sandwich.”
“She was the first female to climb the peak of the Wetterhorn in the Swiss Alps.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He nodded. “Though she had climbed other mountains before the Wetterhorn, the Wetterhorn climb was just the beginning of her firsts. All total, she completed ninety-eight expeditions. What I love about Lucy’s story is that she started off modestly. On the advice of her doctor she took up walking as a cure for rheumatism. From unpretentious beginnings and just taking little steps, she went down in the annals of mountain climbing and became a pioneer. Just goes to show you, it’s never too late to be who or what you’re going to be.”
“Seems to me you know a lot about this Lucy Walker woman. Should I be worried?”
“Not at all.” He smiled, hugging her with one arm. “Besides, she’s an older woman and I’m into younger women, especially one in particular. You see, there’s this new Lucy in my life and she’s the only woman who’s important to me.” He’d caught himself preparing to say “the only woman I love,” but he didn’t want to be overzealous or premature in an attempt to encourage Lucy, especially when he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of his feelings for her. He cared for her deeply, but he felt like he’d be misleading her if he gave her more than that. Besides, his wife was a sharp woman and she would see insincerity from a mile away.
“That’s a wonderful story about your heroic mountaineer,” Lucy said and Ki could still see she was morose. “But I’m no Lucy Walker.”
“No. You’re Lucy Benjamin and you have your own special talents to master and goals to reach. You just have to find your passion, believe in yourself and that anything is possible.”
“I want to.”
“What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?”
“Everything! Everywhere!” She laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“That’s my girl!” He picked her up and spun her around, his cock instantly hard as she coiled her legs around his hips and giggled.
“So, did you ever make it to the peak of the Wetterhorn?”
“I did and I made it to the peak of many other mountains, just like Miss Walker.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“It was, but you know what’s going to be even more exciting?”
“No. What?”
“The peaks you and I are going to climb to together, tonight, in this room…
right now.”
Chapter 17
Lucy’s body tingled with excitement at Ki’s words and her pussy gushed when he looked at her with that concentration she was becoming so used to.
He tumbled her back onto the bed, laughing with her as she squirmed beneath him, then his face turned intensely serious and she feared him and wanted him all at the same time.
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to get you like this, beneath me, acquiescent and aglow with color?”
“How long?”
“Since forever. I think I’ve wanted you before I ever met you.”
Lucy wondered how that was even possible until she remembered all those times her mother used to read her those fairy tales where the girl gets her handsome prince. She realized she had had a picture of Ki in her mind all those years ago. Maybe she had been waiting for him all her life and Rance had been her test before she could earn Ki.
What did it mean that she still deeply wanted Prentice, too? Was a princess allowed to have two princes? They had never covered a situation like that in the fairy tales that she had read.
“Hey.” Ki gently chucked her under the chin. “What are you smiling about, Lulu?”
She smiled even more at the new pet name, deciding she liked it. Rance had had pet names for her like Lard Ass and Dummy, not as romantic by far.
How could she tell Ki, however, that she was smiling at the thought of another man, another man who was living under the same roof with them?
“You are so deep and full of mysteries I want to unravel. I fear I’ll never know the complete you.”
Lucy feared that he would know the complete her—warts and all. She feared that he’d figure her all out and realize he didn’t like her as much as he thought he had. She feared that he’d come to the conclusion she was just a little country mouse and not as exciting as he imagined, and just as worthless as Rance had claimed.
For once, she didn’t care what he would think of her afterward, though. She only worried about the growing ache between her legs and what Ki could do to alleviate it. She only cared what he would do to give her pleasure.
Lucy burrowed her fingers through his hair and drew his head down to hers. She teased his lips with her tongue before she kissed him. She enjoyed the sudden groan he released—so passionate and raw, like an animal in heat—and swallowed it down like nectar.
After more years with Rance than she cared to count, Lucy knew what rough coupling felt like. Rough didn’t scare her. Being left wanting and unsatisfied, that scared her. Lucy was determined not to be left unsatisfied or scared again.
She plunged her tongue into Ki’s mouth, meeting his tongue flush, slowly stroking it, drawing out his pants as she squirmed beneath him.
When Ki rolled his hips, rubbing his hard cock against her swollen nub, Lucy gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist, desperate for that flash of pleasure again.
“I need you now.” Ki pulled away from her for as long as it took him to fling her skirts up and jerk her bloomers down. He yanked down his trousers and underwear almost as fast, just enough to free his flushed, weeping cock.
Ki slid his middle finger inside her first and her pussy muscles automatically tightened around the digit. “You’re so wet. So, so wet, Lucy…”
Rance’s grunts and curses and insults never made her blush. Ki’s talk of how wet she was made her face heat, but not with embarrassment. She was oddly proud, glad that her wetness, the overall condition of her body seemed to please Ki so.
Ki curved his finger inside her, wiggling, twisting, and turning it as if in search of some treasure. Then he hit a spot not too far from the entrance of her pussy that made her stiffen in his arms before she cried out and clutched his shoulders.
He added his thumb to the act, flicking and smoothly stroking her swollen kernel of flesh until she was wildly rocking against his hand.
“Ah, that’s it, my Lulu, let it out.”
His words, the deep, silky cadence of his voice gave her permission, and before Lucy knew it, she was shuddering against his hand, whimpering with her sudden release.
She collapsed back on the bed and Ki quickly straddled her thighs, guiding his cock, with intense care, to her still wet, throbbing pussy. “I’m not finished with you yet, Mrs. Benjamin.”
Lucy arched her neck, not sure which name excited her more—Lulu or Mrs. Benjamin.
Ki teased her labia with the head of his cock, feeding in his shaft inch by inch before he thrust inside and seated himself to the hilt.
Lucy gasped at the length and girth of him then sighed at the sensation of his cock throbbing and still growing inside her. Just as she was adjusting to the feeling of fullness, Ki flipped onto his back, carrying her with him until she knelt astride him.
“I want you to ride me, Lucy. Ride me hard.”
She gaped, had never been so shocked. Rance had never let her get on top of him. He had insisted she wouldn’t know what to do so best to let him do what needed doing while she laid there and took what he had to offer. She got the same treatment from his cronies at the saloon.
For a moment, she was confused at what she was supposed to do, thinking that maybe Rance had been right and she didn’t know what she was doing.
Ki slid his hands up her thighs, under her skirts until he rested his hands on her hips. “Ride me, honey. You can do it.”
He steered her movements with his hands, thrust his hips up at the same time that he pulled her down against him. When he urged her on like this—his actions and his words gently encouraging and firmly assured—he made it so easy to follow him. She could have followed him anywhere and realized in that moment that she would have followed him anywhere, anytime, if he but asked her to.
Within a moment, Lucy found Ki’s rhythm, rocking and rolling her hips as if she were astride a bucking horse. She was astride Ki, however, her gorgeous, patient, and temporary husband.
The latter thought spurred her movements, her inner muscles clutching around Ki’s cock as tightly and as desperately as she wanted to keep him in her life.
“Lucy!” Ki stiffened beneath her, grasping her hips so firmly Lucy thought for sure he would leave the imprint of his fingers on her skin. She didn’t care, didn’t care about anything except how Ki made her feel, how he made her body climb to heights of rapture she had never imagined existed before her brief encounter with Prentice in his previous life.
Prentice had introduced her to physical pleasures she had never known with Rance or any of his cronies. Ki had just delivered on his earlier promise.
Lucy settled down on Ki’s body, fitting her soft curves on his hard ridges, feeling warm and safe and cared for as his arms wrapped around her.
When Rance bedded her, he never lay with her or cuddled after the act, not that she had wanted him to. “Next time I’ll take things a little slower with you, Lucy. At least I’ll try. I want to savor every taste, touch, sound, scent, and sight of you. I want to worship your body the way it deserves to be worshipped.”
Ki said such beautiful things to her, he made her heart sing. Right then the organ expanded in her chest so much, Lucy thought she might just float away.
She burrowed closer to him, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heart as it slowed to a regular cadence. “Next time?”
“Of course next time. You didn’t think this was it for us, did you?”
Truthfully, she didn’t know what to think. She hadn’t had time to do much thinking when he’d been inside her, pleasing her. She’d just had time to feel. “I can’t wait for next time.”
He squeezed her. “Me either.”
“Tell me about all the places you’ve been, the adventures you’ve enjoyed.”
“Where shall I start?”
“Anywhere. Everywhere.”
It was as if her words had opened the floodgates. Descriptions of faraway lands and unimaginable escapades that made Lucy’s heart pound just to hear of them flowed out of Ki’s mouth like he had been waiting all his
life to share them.
Lucy watched his handsome face as he spoke, so alive and flushed with color as he related the account of his first hot air ballooning trip or his first expedition deep sea diving.
This man she had married and who lay beneath her had flown with all manner of birds and swum with countless sea life. He had climbed mountains all over the world, traveled the seven seas, and done things that Lucy had only dreamed or read about in books.
As he spoke, Ki always finished each version of his exploits with “It will be so much more exciting when we go together” or “I can’t wait to take you to…” or “I will love to see your face when you try…”
Lucy didn’t know whether to be excited by the prospect of traveling to all those exotic locales and engaging in such incredible activities, or feel foolish for deluding herself into believing that she and Ki had a future.
Would Ki want to stay married to her after the six months were up? Could he be happy here in Elk Creek after all the other foreign and glamorous lands he had visited or would he ask her to go back with him to New York?
Would she want to be married to Ki six months from then? Would she go with him if he asked her to? At that moment, Lucy couldn’t imagine not wanting to be with Ki, since she was halfway in love with him.
The sudden thought filled her with equal parts joy and dread, but she couldn’t deny the truth of the matter. She was falling for him and she didn’t really want to stop.
“I’m monopolizing the conversation. I want to hear what you think about all this.”
Lucy shrugged. “I think you’ve led an unbelievably exciting life.”
“You can, too. I told you, Lucy, you can do anything you put your mind to.”
“I know.”
“You don’t sound so sure.”
Can I keep you in my life forever?
She couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, but it was what she wanted to do most of all—to stay married to Ki Benjamin.
“What are you thinking about, Lucy?” He kissed her temple, still holding her close as if he enjoyed having her near and never wanted to let her go.