All the King's Horses

by Katherine Rhodes

  Lucy snaked a hand down and rested it on the fly of his pants. “I like it a lot too.”

  “Hey. I’m driving.”

  Her hand didn’t move, but she did use the other to adjust the upgraded radio to something more to her taste than Toby Keith. RJ spared her another glance, but didn’t say anything. Leaning in closer, she nestled her head against his shoulder, switching the seat belt to the center one.

  But she had no intention of leaving that on very long.

  With a light touch, she swept her hand up and down the ridge in his pants, and before long, she could feel him grow hard behind the material. Still, he lodged no protest. Eyes on the road, his breathing was even, and she hoped to change that.

  Her fingers unfastened his belt, and to her relief, he was wearing button fly jeans. Plucking each one, she heard him let out a little puff of breath, and he let out a hard exhale when her hand found its way into the opening.

  Commando.

  Lucy smiled to herself and unclicked the seat belt. She repositioned herself across the front bench, her head in his lap.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Road head,” she answered, sliding the back of his pants down a bit so she could pull him free through the gap of the fly. “And we’re on a road, and this is a head I would like to suck.”

  “Sweet Jesus, woman, you are going to make us crash.”

  Lucy grasped his cock and licked the underside slowly. “Eyes on the road, Texas. I’ll take care of this.”

  Winding her tongue around the tip of his erection a few times, she licked off the drop of clear pre-cum that formed there and slid her mouth over the top, taking him in her mouth.

  She hadn’t had a chance to taste him yet, and he was delicious. She ringed her fingers around the base and took as much of him in her mouth as she could. Leaving them like that would make it difficult for RJ to drive, so she released him and instead sucked just on the angry, tight head. He grunted, and she saw his knuckles go white on the wheel.

  Carefully she slipped a hand inside his pants and found the two orbs of his sac, massaging them. Her lips closed over his head again, circling with her tongue—then started moving her other hand up and down his shaft.

  “Damn, woman. Yes.”

  She sank her mouth over him again, licking the seam on his underside. Careful, she angled his shaft toward her and started moving him quickly in and out of her mouth, her lips caressing his taught skin. She didn’t usually relish giving blowjobs, but there was something about RJ that voided all of her negatives. He felt good in her mouth, in her hand. He tasted better than she thought he could, and as she massaged him, she felt him tightening.

  “I’m going to come, Lucy. Woman, you’d—”

  She cut off his words by sucking him deep into her mouth and swirling her tongue again. She squeezed his sac gently and there was no doubt he was coming—and no stopping him.

  She covered his tight head and sucked him. He exploded onto her tongue and she swallowed every drop of cum that traveled up his erection and enjoyed every bit of it. She ran her hand up him a few times, cleaning him as she did so. She took him out of her mouth with a lascivious pop.

  “You are a filthy, filthy woman.”

  “And you love every moment of that.”

  “Your mouth is amazing.”

  She tucked his now softening shaft back into his pants. “I always wanted to do that.”

  “Lucy, you can do that any time you want.”

  * * *

  Carl’s Austin Barbeque was a massive edifice not more than five blocks from the capitol building. It was also a brewery and a dance hall.

  Tonight, RJ knew that Tate’s brother was part of the band, and that was part of the reason Addie had picked the place for them. She felt comfortable there and knew that Tate would want Geo there with him for his brother’s opening.

  Uncle Carl was near the bar as they walked in. He spotted them right away and headed over.

  “Is this my nephew? It’s a family reunion!” Carl wrapped RJ in a hug with a slap on the back. “I didn’t think you’d be here too, man. What brings you?”

  “What was the term, Lucy? Clandestine chaperoning.” RJ grinned.

  “Spying.” Carl’s smile said he understood. “And your lady friend?”

  “Uncle Carl, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Carl Miller.”

  Carl took her hand and dropped a kiss on the back of her hand. “A pleasure to meet you, my dear.”

  “Carl!” One of the waiters was calling from kitchen.

  “Gotta go. I’m sure that someone bitched about a beer being a quarter inch low.” Carl turned to the hostess. “Put them at the VIP table with the others. My tab. Hang if you can, kids. We’ll chat later! You should come down another night when I’m not so busy.”

  “We’ll give it a try, Uncle Carl.” RJ tossed a wave at him as he walked off to the kitchen.

  The hostess motioned them to follow her to the table, and to no one’s shock, Addie, Fatima, Geo, and Tate were already sitting there.

  Addie could not have rolled her eyes harder. “Seriously, RJ? Seriously? You couldn’t just give this to me for once?”

  “What? He’s my uncle.”

  “You’re an asshole, RJ. You know what I mean.”

  He held the chair for Lucy, who sat down. In that moment, RJ was pretty sure the only reason his sister didn’t choke him out where he stood was because she liked Lucy and didn’t look good in prison orange. He took the next chair over and smiled at Addie, half apologetic, and half ‘big brother asshole.’ “When does the band go on?”

  “About half an hour,” Tate answered. “He’s nervous as hell and he doesn’t get nervous.”

  “Place is crowded, too,” RJ added, looking around.

  “Don’t tell him that.” He looked terrified for his brother. “His girlfriend broke up with him today, this morning. Just when he was getting ready to start having the conversation about rings and weddings. So he’s extra fucked up in the head.”

  “Juliana Grossman broke up with your brother?” Addie looked honestly shocked, and by the nod of Tate’s head, RJ could tell he was shocked too.

  “Well, you may as well introduce your date, RJ.” Geo was sitting next to his sister and directly across from him.

  “Sure, right.” He nodded. “Lucy. This is Geo McGovern, who you might remember from the dance the other night. This is Tate Verhoven, Geo’s best friend. Tate, Geo, this is my...date, Lucy. She’s Tee’s sister, too.”

  There were “his” and “hellos” passed around, and finally everyone settled in to order dinner and drinks.

  RJ kept stealing fries from Lucy’s plate, until she finally slapped his hand away. “Do not touch the fries, sir. You are treading on thin ice.”

  “I like the fries.”

  “Order your own!”

  Addie suddenly got arm-flappingly excited and grabbed Lucy’s arm. “I love this song, I love this song! Come dance! Girls only!” As she shoved back from the table, clearly having forgiven RJ for showing up, she grabbed Fatima’s arm and pulled the two sisters along to the dance floor.

  RJ pulled the plate of fries in front of himself and started munching.

  “Playing with fire, eh?” Geo raised an eyebrow.

  Pausing, RJ looked up. “The fries keep me from threatening you with castration.”

  Geo audibly swallowed. “What did I do?”

  “You kissed my little sister. That’s all I need.”

  “She’s not a kid, RJ,” Geo answered. “She’s a beautiful woman with a mind of her own and a life she wants to live. I’m not taking advantage of her.”

  RJ stared at him. “Right answer. For now, you keep your balls.”

  “Thanks.” The sarcasm laced his words.

  “Honestly, Geo. I know you mean well by her. Just remember she’s always my little sister. And I’ll do anything to protect her.”

  Geo offered his hand. “I know, man. She’s a good woman, and I just want to do right
by her.”

  RJ nodded his approval. Tate leaned forward and tossed his chin at the dance floor. “Who do I talk to about the younger princess?”

  Geo and RJ shared a look. “The King.”

  “What, like Elvis?”

  Before the joke could go any further, there was a commotion on the dance floor. RJ peered around the column that hid part of the dance floor and shoved away from the table when he saw it was Lucy, Addie, and Fatima.

  Geo was on his feet and Tate was a moment behind, having to grab his cane. They marched to the floor, and RJ halted. The Gibbons brothers and their nasty little posse.

  “Tate, go get my uncle. Tell him to call the cops.”

  It looked like Tate was going to argue, but changed his mind. He walked off as fast as he could. RJ and Geo headed over to the gang that was harassing the girls. There wasn’t a chance he and Geo were enough to get them away, but they had to do something—even if it meant he’d have a black eye and broken arm in the morning.

  Chapter Nine

  ALL THE THREE OF THEM WANTED WAS A CHANCE to dance to the song that Addie loved so much. It was a girls’ bonding moment, and they were having a wonderful night.

  Lucy was the happiest she’d been in years. RJ was amazing, she’d found wonderful horses for the family farm, and she was making friends who didn’t care if her lineage was outdated and diluted. The only thing they didn’t want diluted were the drinks.

  Nothing could ever go as planned, though, and almost as soon as the three of them were on the floor and just finding their rhythm, the brutes were on them.

  At first, they just danced up and circled them. She ignored that.

  Then, they danced closer, trying to separate the girls. Lucy pulled the girls closer and cut them out.

  When they grabbed her ass, she lost it and slapped the tall one.

  “Keep your fucking mitts off me, asshole.”

  “Oh, now come on, pretty. You don’t want to make an enemy of me.” He circled around her and grabbed her ass again.

  She punched him in the stomach. “No is no, jackass.”

  Lucy’s punch had landed hard and squeaked out a little ‘oof’ from the biggest jerk. He didn’t like that and grabbed her wrist. “We don’t punch the gentleman trying to make nice with you, little lady.”

  “Nice with me?” With a step back, she yanked her arm free. “Gentlemen hold doors and tip hats and offer flowers. You grabbed my ass and that disqualifies you. Go away. Take your friends and your steroid muscles and go away.”

  The men passed a look around them and started laughing. “Naw, I don’t think so. We see things we like here and we’re gonna show you what it’s like to have the attention of the Gibbons brothers.”

  Lucy swallowed. Her martial arts were too rusty. She’d stopped jiu-jitsu in eighth grade, and she was really hoping she’d be able to find a place she could brush up her skills after this encounter.

  If they didn’t break her legs.

  “I think it’s time for the Gibbons brothers and their useless friends to find a new place and leave people alone.”

  RJ.

  Standing just outside the circle of entirely too big and frighteningly burly men, he had his arms crossed over his chest and Geo was right behind him looking mighty pissed as well.

  “Oh, and who’s gonna make me?” the Gibbons brother asked, pushing his way over to them. “You? You’re a runt, Miller. Your mama couldn’t even grow you big.”

  Lucy snorted, then looked horrified. The Gibbons—and RJ—looked over at her. She shrugged. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

  Geo and Fatima burst out laughing while Addie turned five shades of red. RJ raised an eyebrow, and the Gibbons and their friends were completely lost at the innuendo. They were also pissed that they weren’t getting the joke, and the tall one stalked up to RJ.

  Without flinching, even though the man stood about four inches taller, RJ raised a disinterested eyebrow.

  “You’d better take your scrawny ass out of here, Miller. Ain’t no one woman in Texas wants to be stuck with a runt like you.”

  “I really don’t know where you’re getting this runt thing, Harry. I’m not a runt where it counts, including my brains and my pants. So, run off and figure out somewhere else to play grab ass, because it ain’t here and it ain’t my girlfriend’s ass.”

  “This little thing is your girlfriend?” Gibbons laughed. “Oh, darling, let me show you what a real man is made of.”

  Lucy kicked him in the balls, hard, and watched as he doubled over in pain. “Huh. Looks like you got the same soft spot as all the rest.”

  “I’m gonna kill you!”

  Gibbons exploded out of his crouched position and lunged at Lucy. RJ pushed her out of the way and took the brunt of the hit, grabbing onto Gibbons and flying backward with him. He managed to get his feet under him and as his back slammed into one of the columns, he kneed Gibbons in the face hard.

  Lucy jumped up and ran over to where Gibbons was holding his nose and doing nothing to staunch the blood. She leapt onto his back and wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling back.

  RJ took the opening and gave the big, dumb lug a right and left kidney punch.

  That was all he had time for before Lucy felt herself yanked off the man’s back by the rest of the group. Throwing her to the ground, they all loomed over her prone form. After just a moment, one foot shot out and kicked her in the thigh. She curled up to protect her front from their assault and pulled her feet under her.

  Just as she was about to launch herself at one of the would-be attackers, he was yanked out of the circle. Looking up, she saw another, and another, yanked out of the circle, and two very handsome men were standing there and providing the tossing. Glancing over, she could see that Gibbons and RJ were still fighting—well, Gibbons was throwing them, but RJ was landing them.

  And really didn’t see why anyone could call RJ a runt. He was tall and muscular and really, really hot when he was defending her like this.

  “That is enough!”

  The rafters of the building shook at the yell from the bar.

  Everyone froze and in an almost comical moment, the band hit a sour note and stopped.

  Carl Miller walked from around the bar to where the melee was halted in place.

  “What in the name of hell is going on here?”

  Gibbons pointed to Lucy, and Carl made a sour face. “You’re gonna blame this sweet girl for this mess? No. Get out, Gibbons. Get out and take your shit sucking friends with you. This is my establishment, and it’s a good place. I won’t have you screwing this place up, or groping women, or starting fights on my property. Get out.”

  The two very large, handsome gentlemen who had been pulling the men away from her took up position on either side of Carl and folded their arms.

  Gibbons turned and swung at RJ, landing right on his jaw and spinning him around.

  Lucy launched herself at him, kicking him between the legs again and as he doubled over, she took the chance to knee him in the face and box his ears. She grabbed his shirt and rammed him into the wall. She was gearing up to kick him when two arms slid around her and pulled her back with a firm tug.

  “That’s enough, you Yankee spitfire you.”

  She struggled for just a few seconds before she was too far out of range to do any damage to the Gibbons jerk, and instead opted to struggle out of the strong grip she was in. “Put me down! Put me down or so help me—”

  “Calm down, young lady. Please.” The other very handsome man was in front of her, holding her back from swinging her arms at anyone.

  “Lucia, páre. Please.” Fatima put an arm on her hand. “You’re going Jersey on everyone.”

  Lucy took a deep breath and settled her feet on the floor. “Sorry. Sorry. I get a little ragey.”

  “You’ve got a hell of woman here, Miller,” the darker of the two handsome men said.

  “Yeah, I know. She almost makes my Texas chivalry outdated,” RJ said, walking
over. “Thanks, Samson, Gideon. Fancy seeing you here.”

  “We were in the neighborhood, chatting with the governor about some business,” the one named Gideon said. “Thought we’d pop by for a beer. Didn’t expect the Gibbons to be here.”

  “No one does,” Carl said, walking up. “I have kicked them out so many times it’s not funny. I’m going to have to put up their pictures so they don’t even get let in the front door. Thanks, gents. Beers are on me tonight. Now, RJ, let’s see if we can’t get that face patched up.”

  Lucy grabbed RJ’s arm. “You never have to get hurt for me, RJ. Really. I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”

  RJ smiled. “Princess, I’d take a bullet for you if I had to.”

  She didn’t have a reason to doubt that.

  * * *

  “Princess?” Samson asked. “Where’d you steal that nickname from, Miller?”

  “It’s not a nickname,” RJ said, washing the blood from his face.

  “What?” Gideon stared at him.

  “She’s a princess. An honest to God princess. Descended from the last king of Portugal. She’s even related to the Queen of England. It’s pretty nuts.”

  “And she was beating the shit out of a Gibbons?”

  “She’s also from New Jersey.”

  Both of the Duke brothers made understanding noises at that explanation.

  Looking in the mirror, RJ assessed the damage. Harry’s ring had scraped a hard cut on his jaw, and that was where the majority of the blood had come from. It wasn’t deep, it was just ugly. He grabbed the rubbing alcohol from the sink and soaked a paper towel with it, slapping it on the cut. “OH! I regret this decision. Ouch. Shit.”

  “What’s she doing here? How did you meet here?” Gideon asked, peering out the door.

  “She’s here for the horses. She’s supposed to buy them for her family’s farm.”

  “Nice,” Samson said. “Are you going to be good? We have to get back to Falconhead to our own Texas grown princess.”