“Wash me,” she murmured.
“Try and stop me,” he whispered.
He peeled off the last of her clothes, stripped quickly, then wrapping his fingers around hers he led her into the shower. As the hot water began to wash off the day, he frothed up a sponge and smoothed it over her body. Closing her eyes she softly moaned as he wandered it over her breasts, then again as he rubbed it between her legs.
“Such a hungry girl,” he purred, dropping the sponge and touching her clit. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to take me to bed,” she whimpered.
“Oh, yeah?” he teased, pushing his finger into her depths, making her lean against him with a deep groan. “And once I’ve got you there, then what?”
“Make love to me.”
“You know what comes first,” he said softly into her ear. “Tell me you want it. Come on, my sweet Christmas angel, tell me you want to be spanked.”
“Ooh, Connor, I do,” she bleated.
Dropping his fingers from between her legs he picked up the hand-held sprayer and washed away the last of the soap, then turning off the water he opened the stall door and reached for a towel.
“I think you’re gonna be sleepin’ real good tonight,” he crooned as he toweled them both dry.
“Why?”
“You’ll always sleep better with a toasty backside and a satisfied pussy.”
His voice was low and husky, and his promise sent a warm thrill rippling through her body. She moved her hand down, and taking hold of his cock she found him already stiffening. He closed his eyes, losing himself in the feel of her grip, and before he could stop her she dropped on her knees and took him in her mouth. He was about to pull her up, but as her warm, wonderful lips consumed him he couldn’t bring himself to stop the prurient pleasure. She began lustily sliding her tongue up and down his shaft, then returned to hungrily suck him, and he knew he would be hard-pressed not to throw her on the bed and fuck her senseless the moment they left the bathroom. When her fingers began tickling his balls, sending a surge of energy through his loins, he knew if he didn’t stop her very soon, he wouldn’t stop her at all, but he waited until his climax was hovering before he fisted her hair and pulled back her head.
“What am I gonna do with you?” he growled.
“Spank me hard,” she rasped gazing up at him. “I’ve been such a bad girl.”
Her words inflamed his fever, and pulling her to her feet he led her from the shower, then scooping her up he hurried her to his bed and threw her on the mattress. She barely had time to think before he had her on her hands and knees, and wrapping his arm around her waist he started slapping her full, round, moons, swiftly traveling his hand from one cheek to the other.
“You asked me to spank you hard, so I’m gonna spank you hard,” he declared.
“Oh, no, not too hard,” she gasped.
“You wanna know how it feels,” he said without pausing his smacks. “You wanna know what it’s like to have a soundly spanked seat, and quite frankly, I think you should know what it feels like too.”
“Wh-why? OW, OW, OW.”
“So when I warn you that you’re in for a real good spankin’ at some point in the future, you’ll know what I’m talkin’ about.”
Her skin was quickly turning from pink to red, and she kicked out in protest.
“Connor,” she wailed, “Connor, enough, stop, please. OWWWW!”
“Sir. When I’m spankin’ you like this, you call me, Sir.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said quickly. “Sir, please, enough.”
“You really think you can tell me when it’s enough?” he asked, moving his hand to whisk her sit spot.
“No, no, sorry, but, OW!”
Her pussy was glistening between her thighs, and seized by a sudden desire to plunge into her depths, he stopped spanking to reach into his drawer and find a condom.
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly.
“For what?” he asked, hastily ripping open the packet and sliding on the sheath.
“For, ooh, everything,” she moaned.
Separating her engorged, soaked pussy lips with his thumbs, he maneuvered his member into position and thrust home.
She bucked back, letting out a wail of gratitude, and clutching her hips, soaking in the salacious sight of her bright red behind, he fucked her with quick, strong strokes until she was in the throes of her orgasm and he was exploding into his raincoat. It had been a fervent, passionate coupling, and spent and drained they laid entwined, their hearts pounding, both once again astounded by the power of their chemistry.
“Do you think this will last?” she gasped.
“You and me? Hell, yeah,” Connor replied breathlessly, “and it’s only gonna get better.”
“How can it get better?” she panted rolling her eyes. “It’s unbelievable, and why are so sure?”
“Just am,” he muttered, “kinda like you knew you were gonna be safe when you were walkin’ through that storm to my bar.”
“I did,” she sighed, nestling into him. “I totally did.”
“Come here, angel,” he purred, holding her closely. “Life’s so peculiar. Sometimes things just feel like they’re meant to be.”
“I’m so tired,” she yawned.
“I’ll bet,” he said softly. “Everything you went through last night, and the big day today. You need a long sleep.”
Reaching down he grabbed the bedcovers and covered them both, then switched off the bedside lamp. Laying in the darkness he stared out the window. The bright radiant light of the full moon was illuminating the hills in the distance like a street lamp over a house.
I sure wish it had been this bright and clear when the Churchill’s came bangin’ on my door last night. I hope the cameras got a good picture of Edward in spite of the snow. Dammit. Now I won’t be able to sleep until I know. Maybe I should get up and burn the CD now. It’ll save me havin’ to do it in the mornin’, and I can make copies of my dance with April while I’m at it.
April was already deeply sleeping, and slipping slowly out of bed he donned his thick robe and headed downstairs to his office. Switching on the lights he powered up the monitors, opened up a pack of blank CD’s, and placed them nearby ready to load.
“She arrived at my door only nineteen hours ago?” he muttered. “That’s crazy. I feel like I’ve known April for years.”
Though he had eight cameras, he had only four monitors, but he could watch all eight views simultaneously if he used the split screen option. He was about to input the time and date so he could view the outside cameras from the night before, when he noticed a vehicle in his parking lot. At first glance it was meaningless. It could be there for any number of reasons, but when he zoomed in and saw it was a Range Rover he studied it carefully. The vehicle wasn’t white, it was black, but with everything that had happened he needed to make sure it didn’t have a Churchill plate. Zooming even closer, to his alarm he saw there was no plate. It was missing.
Hastily loading a CD he began to burn it from the camera feed, and with his stomach churning he darted his eyes from camera to camera. The main bar area where a short time before he’d been dancing with April looked as it should, but when he switched to the kitchen he saw someone standing by the gas stove.
“How the hell did he get in?” Connor muttered. “Why didn’t my alarm go off?”
His cellphone was in his bedroom, but he had a landline phone in the office, and as he hastily grabbed the receiver and called 911, he was shocked to see a second intruder come into view. The man at the gas stove had his back to him, but the second man was visible. It was Richard Churchill, and though the lights in the kitchen had been switched on, he was carrying a candle.
“Police Department, how may I help?”
“This is Connor McBride,” he said urgently, continuing to watch the monitor. “Two men have broken into my place of business, McBride’s Bar and Grill.”
“Connor?”
“
Yes ma’am.”
“Hey, Connor, it’s Sally Matthews. What’s goin’ on?”
“Mrs. Matthews, I’m not sure what they’re doing, but there are two men in the kitchen. I’m watching them from my home on my security cameras. One of them I can see clearly and it’s Richard Churchill. The other I can’t see, his back is towards me. That’s weird…”
“What is?”
“Richard Churchill has just put a lit candle on the kitchen island, and now they’re both leaving.”
“Connor, is there a gas stove in that kitchen?”
“Yes, yes there is. Oh, no.”
“I’m calling the fire department right now and sending out some patrol cars. Stay on the line, keep me informed about what you’re seeing.”
“Yep, yep, I’ll be here,” he said urgently.
Glancing over at the monitor showing the parking lot, he saw the two men jump into the Range Rover and peel away on to the main road.
“Connor?”
“I’m still here Mrs. Matthews. They just left heading east towards town.”
“Copy that, I’ll let the boys know.”
Then it happened.
To his shock and horror, as he turned his eyes back to the kitchen, there was a flash, then nothing. Darting his eyes back to the front view of his tavern he saw it was being engulfed in flames.
His bar had exploded.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
April had no idea why she woke up. She just did. With a start. Sitting up she stared around the bedroom with a worried frown. Something was wrong. She could feel it, and where had Connor gone? Climbing from the bed she shivered. The heat was on but she felt cold, and remembering Connor had pulled off his sweater and left on the side of the tub she hurried into the bathroom and pulled it over head. It fell to mid-thigh and she had to roll up the sleeves, but it was wonderfully warm, and quickly slipping her feet into socks she headed to the stairs.
“Connor?” she called as she trotted down.
There was no reply but she saw the lights on in his study, and with her worry growing she quickened her pace. Stepping through the door she found Connor sitting in front of several monitors, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
“Connor?” she said softly, walking over to him and crouching down. “What is it?”
“My bar,” he replied without moving. “They blew it up.”
“What do you mean? Connor, tell me what’s happened.”
As he slowly raised his head, she was shocked to see his face wet with tears.
“I don’t understand,” she murmured.
“Look,” he replied, and swallowing hard he sat up and pointed to the screen that showed his tavern fully engulfed in flames, surrounded by firefighters doing their best to fight the inferno.
“Oh, my, God.” Her voice was tremulous in disbelief, and doing her best to push back her own tears she put her arms around him. “My poor sweet man.”
Grateful for her comfort he held on to her tightly, then taking a deep breath he released her and rose to his feet.
“I need to get over there,” he said wiping his hands over his face.
“You said something about someone blowing it up? What did you mean?”
“It was Richard Churchill and some other guy.”
“No!” she exclaimed, her voice a disbelieving hoarse whisper.
“I came down to burn the CD of Edward and Richard banging on the door during the storm, and I noticed a black Ranger Rover in the parking lot, so I checked the inside cameras to see if anything was going on. I saw them in the kitchen.”
“I don’t understand,” she said shaking her head.
“I couldn’t see if the other guy was Edward or someone else, but Richard put a candle on the kitchen island and they took off. They’d turned on the gas and left the candle burning far enough away for the fumes to build up. I saw the whole thing. I was on the phone with the police when the explosion happened,” he said with a catch in his voice.
“What can I do?” she asked, fighting a wave of emotion as she stared up at him.
“Just stay at my side,” he replied pulling her into him. “I keep thinking, what if we’d been sleeping upstairs? We might not have heard them come in. I still don’t know why the alarm didn’t go off.”
“You’re sure it was on?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then they must have disabled it. That would have been Richard. He’s an electronics nut.”
“It doesn’t matter, and I don’t think it would have stopped them anyway. It would only have taken them a minute to turn on the gas and leave that candle. They would’ve been long gone before anyone arrived,” he said grimly.
“At least you have the proof to nail them,” she said hugging him.
“Yeah, I do,” he said gravely, “and I’m gonna make sure they rot in prison for a very long time. They may have powerful friends, but I’ve got the bastards on film. Come on, let’s get dressed and head on down there,” he said, powering down his equipment and switching off the lights.
With heavy hearts they climbed the stairs, and though she pulled on the jeans Annabelle had given her, she kept his sweater. It was warm and comforting, and when her coat didn’t fit over it he gave her one of his parkas.
“I must look like I weigh two-hundred pounds.”
“More like two-fifty,” he said, somehow managing a smile.
Leaving a bedside lamp burning, they headed back down the stairs and into the garage. Climbing into the car he settled behind the wheel, and was about to start the engine when she grabbed his arm.
“Wait,” she said urgently.
“Did you forget something?”
“No, but I just had a thought. Richard figured out it was you who punched him and Edward. What I mean is, they found out that McBride’s Bar and Grill belongs to you.”
“Yeah, so?”
“They could just as easily have figured out where you live. What if they’re just waiting for you to leave so they can torch this place as well? They could be parked on the street right now, getting ready to do the same thing here the minute you leave.”
“Shit,” he muttered, staring at her. “You could be right, but…”
“But what?”
“But if they’re so smart, wouldn’t they realize they’d be the first people the police would question?”
“Maybe, but they’re really arrogant. They think they’re above the law, or they can outsmart the police. Maybe they’ve committed other crimes and walked clean away. I find it hard to believe burning down your bar is their first criminal act.”
“I just got a real bad feelin’,” he said solemnly. “I don’t think you should be here. I need to take you over to Lance’s.”
“No, you can’t leave here.”
“Then I’ll call him and have him pick you up.”
“NO!” she protested. “I’m staying with you.”
“I can’t let do that. If you’re right, and dammit, I hate to say it but I think you are, I have to get you out of danger. You’re way more important to me than my house. It’s insured. It’s replaceable. You’re not.”
“You can forget it. I’m not going anywhere,” she declared. “Call the police, in fact, call your friend Wes and tell him get someone over here. We can stay here in the garage until help arrives.”
“You’re impossible,” he said glaring at her. “Why are you fightin’ me on this? Don’t you understand that I…uh, I don’t want you in any danger?”
She was sure he was about to say something else and changed his mind, and as she searched his eyes he looked away and ran his hands over his face.
“I told you,” she continued, wondering what it was he’d been going to tell her, “I’m not going to leave you,” and lunging across the seat she pulled the keys from the ignition and climbed quickly out of the car.
“Dammit,” he grunted as he climbed out. “Get back in the car right now, and give me back those keys.”
“I can’t.
If you drove me to Lance’s and came back to find your house on fire, or if something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. I’d be tortured for the rest of my life.”
“April, listen to me,” he said impatiently, walking around the car frantically searching for the right words, “I need-“
“Wait,” she said in a loud whisper. “Do you hear something?”
He paused, and a moment later they heard a car pull up to a stop in front of the garage door.
“Shit, that could be them,” he muttered, “but how did they get through the gates?”
“If Richard was able to deal with your alarm system at your tavern, he could certainly put two wires together in your little box out there and open the gate.”
“Good point,” he grimaced, “which means it’s him. Anyone else would have buzzed the button and my phone would have rung.”
“Oh, my, gosh,” she mumbled. “Do you think they’ve assume you’ve already left, or have they blocked the garage door to keep you in?”
“Wow, the way your mind works is amazin’,” he frowned.
“Did you just hear a car door slam shut?”
“I sure did, and there’s the second one.”
“Are all the doors and windows locked?” she asked urgently. “Does the house have an alarm?”
“No alarm, but yeah, everything’s locked up. The back door has a glass window though.”
“I’ve never understood why doors have windows in them,” she said testily. “I mean, what’s the point? Break it, and you’re in.”
“I have a shotgun and a pistol, but they’re upstairs. Maybe I should try to get up there.”
“Call your police chief friend,” she said urgently. “Hurry.”
“Shit, why didn’t I do that when I heard the frickin’ car?” he cursed grabbing his phone. “I hope I still have his home number.”
“He gave you his home number?”
Her Christmas Cowboy Page 9