Charity said, “Now that’s what I call getting around.” There was a distance of several miles between the Divine Creek Ranch and the Rockin’ C Ranch.
Chad nodded and then asked, “Does he have a chewed-up left ear?”
Lydia grinned. “Yes, that’s probably him.”
Buck said, “I know which one you mean. I saw him in the barn the other day. You might see him around here still.”
“Row-rowr.”
Lydia put her hand on Mack’s fluffy white neck. “Nope. You’re staying right—”
Charity burst into laughter and pointed. “Speak of the devil!”
Jake the barn cat had sauntered up and was currently licking the turkey leg that Buck had become distracted from during the conversation.
Buck turned when everyone looked his way and hollered, “Hey, cat! Leave my food alone. Go get your own.” He shooed the cat, Mack caught sight of him, and all hell broke loose.
“Row-rowr-rowr!” The one-hundred-pound Great Pyrenees puppy bellowed and shot from his resting place like he’d been fired from a cannon. “Row-rowr-rowr!”
Charity cringed at Mack’s deep, echoing bark, and then her jaw dropped as the cat nosed the turkey leg again as Mack leaped for him, knocking both Buck and himself into the pool, turkey leg and all. The cat took off around the pool and disappeared in the bushes. Chaos erupted as Buck surfaced, still holding his turkey leg. Chance Carlisle jumped into the pool to help, fighting laughter and cursing the dog.
“I’m sorry about your pool, Mrs. Warner,” Buck said as he handed her the soggy turkey leg and helped heave the now water-logged Great Pyrenees from the pool.
“Yeah, Grace, sorry about the pool,” Lydia said as she grasped Mack by the collar and returned to her seat, scolding him.
Through her laughter, Grace said, “I’m sure those aren’t the only reasons the pool is going to have to be cleaned. Don’t worry about it. Buck, I’ll get you another turkey leg.” She handed him a beach towel and pitched the ruined drumstick in the trash can.
Charity had just settled back into Justin’s lap when Grace said, “Charity, did you by chance see a jar of bread-and-butter pickles while you were in the pantry?”
“Yeah, you need them?”
Grace nodded as Ethan and Jack placed the meat Grace had brought them onto the huge grate of the barbecue pit. “Would you mind?”
Justin goosed Charity’s ass as she stood. She winked at him and bent down to whisper, “You sure have been handsy all day. Hold that thought, handsome.”
The air-conditioning felt heavenly when she went back in the house, and she looked forward to sunset when they all rode out to the lake for the fireworks display. “Somethin’ ’bout a Truck” was playing on the stereo, and she couldn’t help wiggling and dancing as Kip Moore went on about a girl in a red sundress.
Suddenly an enormous male body pressed aggressively against her, the glass jar was removed from her hand, and the large body lifted away from her for two seconds. She heard the jar land firmly on the kitchen counter, and then he was back. The light in the pantry went out, and the door closed and she heard a metallic click.
Why in the fuck is there a lock on the pantry door? Really, Charity? That’s what you want to know right now?
“What are you doing?” she whispered, trying to draw air into her lungs as he pressed her against the canned goods shelf.
“Silence, unless you want them to hear. If they hear, they will come. Do you really want my men to watch me take you?” The deep, masculine growl and the prickle of his scruffy beard sent an icy-hot thrill up her spine.
“Please, don’t hurt me,” she whispered, breathing shallowly as she suppressed a smile. She’d been anticipating this for weeks, not knowing when he would strike. Well, this explains the desire to grow a beard in summer. “Please, I’m just a serving maid. I have nothing of value for you to steal.”
The Viking marauder chuckled deeply, ending on a growly note. “That’s what you think, wench. You have exactly what I need.”
Charity bit her lip so hard she nearly drew blood as her hot juices soaked her bikini bottom. Leathery hands tugged on the ties at her hips, and she was oh so glad she’d worn the two-piece swimsuit.
“But you can’t!” She struggled against him, and he grasped her arms and tugged them behind her, immobilizing her.
“No? I can do whatever I want to. I’ve conquered your lands. Everything as far as my eyes can see belongs to me now…including you, my spritely little wench. I’ll have you right now.”
The bikini bottom fell to the floor, and his callused fingers yanked at the ties of the top, freeing her breasts so they swayed sensually with his jerky, rough movements.
“No. You mustn’t.” Her cunt clenched so tight she thought she might go over the edge. Not now, wench! You’ll ruin it! I’ve waited fucking weeks for this!
“I care not if you are wed. You are mine now.”
“Please don’t! I’m a—” Her heart pounded when he jerked her head back by her hair and crushed her lips beneath his.
The pitch black of the pantry intensified all her other senses. Over the rushing pound of her heart in her ears, she could hear his raspy breath as he ground his lips against hers in a bruising kiss.
Grace will notice that for sure.
The Viking released her lips and pulled at his clothing, his rough knuckles rubbing against her ass cheeks. Seconds later, the thick, hard length of his erection was pressed against the cleft of her ass. He was huge! He’d surely split her asunder!
Whoa, way to get into it, you kinky slut!
He grasped her butt cheeks in his rough hands and parted them roughly.
She gasped out the words before it was too late. “I’m a virgin! Please! You will kill me!”
“Nay! And be quiet! If my men had you, they would kill you with their gigantic Viking cocks. A virgin, you say?”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing at his overacting. “Yes! Please! I’ll die!”
He laid an open kiss on her shoulder, and then he lightly bit down with his teeth. In a rough voice he replied, “You will not die. I will have you, but I will be gentle since you claim this is your first time. You will do as I say?”
Charity had to bite her lip on a hot retort at his insinuation that she wasn’t a virgin. Her pussy was throbbing, and she didn’t want to play-argue. She wanted to be fucked hard by a Viking marauder.
“Yes,” she whispered in a tremulous voice.
Placing her hands on the pantry shelf above her, he growled, “You will keep your hands here. If you move them I will tie you up. You must make no sound. If they hear you, my men will come and they will want you too. There is no stopping them when the lust is upon them.”
Charity’s pussy throbbed because the lust was upon her. “Yes, my lord.”
“I will tell them all that I have claimed you and they are not to touch you. But I will mean it in truth. You are mine.”
“Oh, God, yes!”
Charity heard a trace of amusement in her Viking’s voice that he was obviously fighting to give her the fantasy she’d asked for. “You will serve me and me alone. My wench, to do with as I please.”
She squirmed in his grasp briefly, fighting to get back in the moment. “Please don’t hurt me.”
He growled softly as Grace called out, “Charity? Hun? Oh, well.” The pickle jar slid from the counter, and they both let go of the breaths they were holding.
He rubbed his prickly beard against the juncture of her shoulder and neck and whispered, “Move again and I’ll tie you up.”
To move, or not to move. That is the question.
Charity gripped the shelf and tensed up as tight as she could all over.
“Wench, there is no need to be frightened. My skills are known far and wide in many lands. I will fuck you well. You will like it.”
“Yes. Then you will leave me ruined, carrying your brat.” Charity bit her lip at the serving wench’s audacity and nearly came when a soli
d hand landed on her plump ass cheek with a searing pop.
Oh, fuck! You are brave!
“Did I not say you are mine? I do not lie. You are comely and I will keep you and take you with me when I leave these lands.” He grasped her cheeks hard and spread them as much as she allowed him to. “Now silence, and take my cock before I decide to not be so easy on you.”
Her cunt throbbed for him to fill it, but she remained tense and uncooperative, making him do all the work. The blunt head of his cock found her drenched pussy, and he snarled in satisfaction as he plunged into her resistant body with one hard, hot stroke. She jammed a fist in her mouth when her body exploded with orgasm. Fireworks burst behind her eyelids, and she was unaware of whether she made any noise or not as he fucked the daylights out of her.
Careful of the canned goods on the shelf, she held on and moaned when he reached forward and strummed her clit as he fucked her now more-than-willing body.
She moved with him, rubbing her clit against his fingertips as he fucked her from behind. His thrusts were so hard that he lifted her to her tiptoes with each one. Deciding to continue playing the wench to please her Viking, Charity whispered, “Oh, my lord. Oh, how you fill me with your enormous cock.”
Her Viking chuckled in her ear and pressed a kiss against her shoulder. “I told you that you would like it. Your cunt is very tight.” He slowed his strokes noticeably, and she wanted to scream at him. “Did it hurt?”
“Oh, my lord, you near tore me asunder with your big, hard cock. But ’tis most wonderful filling me now.”
His abs vibrated against her back, communicating the laughter he withheld. He resumed his tantalizing strokes. “Then prepare yourself for a good, thorough pounding and another wave of your woman’s joy.”
What the fuck? My woman’s joy? Who has he been talking to?
She ground against him as her body obeyed his words. Her movements grew tighter and the tension inside her prepared to burst as the wave of her woman’s joy crested.
With one hand she reached behind her and wrapped her forearm around his neck, and with the other she pressed her hand against his rubbing her clit and cried out as the climax hit her. His hand covered her open mouth, muffling the sound as he thrust several more times and crushed her to him as his orgasm struck.
His whole body shook with the intensity of it, and he jerked against her as he panted, a deep, sensuous yet vulnerable sound. He released her mouth and held her tightly to him as he caught his breath. His long hair swept over her shoulder in a cool, silky wave as he bowed his head, and she placed her hand over the precious length. In all the years they’d been together, he’d never cut it off because he knew how much she loved every straight, silken strand of it.
Justin pressed his full lips against her shoulder and pulled out as he murmured, “Yes, I’ll take you with me, my wench, wherever I go, for all of our lives.”
“I love you, my Viking marauder.”
Justin grunted. “Nah, she needs at least five more chapters of crazy, Viking sex before she confesses her love, the cheeky wench.”
“I knew it! You got into my Viking romance books collection, didn’t you?” She giggled as she searched in the dark for her disassembled bikini bottom. She located it when Justin turned on the overhead light for her.
“Yeah. Sandra Hill is my friend on Facebook too.”
Charity laughed so hard she snorted as she put herself back together. Justin was a man on a mission with the Facebook friends list building.
“I have something for you, since this weekend is our wedding anniversary. I know I’m early, but now seemed to be the right time to give this to you.” Justin reached in the inner pocket of his swim trunks, meant for storing valuables, and pulled out a ring. “Happy twentieth anniversary, my sassy wench.”
Charity squealed when she saw the gold ring inset with at least a carat’s worth of baguette diamonds. “Oh! I love it!” She threw her arms around him and danced on her tiptoes then looked up at him as he grinned. “I love you more every day. I would marry you all over again! Thank you!”
Justin chuckled and squeezed her ass cheeks. “Make that squeally sound again. That was kinda cute.”
Charity giggled and kissed him again. Through the door she heard a loud screeching noise and then an amplified mumble. “Oh, crap! Is that what I think it is?”
Justin chuckled as he tied the drawstring on his swim trunks after repositioning his deliciously overabundant cock in them. “Sounds like Emma brought her karaoke machine with her.”
“Grace said they enjoy Emma’s so much that she was thinking about getting one.”
“Babe, you gotta talk her out of it. Grace is smooth and sweet as silk but her singing could curdle milk.”
Charity shook her finger. “Nuh-uh. I’m not saying anything. You’ve never heard Emma sing if you think Grace is bad. Grace may sound like Dolly Parton, but Emma sounds like squawking geese. No complaining. Rachel will take the mike from her and sing something we like.”
“Where’s my earplugs when I need them?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll distract you,” Charity whispered as she cracked open the pantry door, wondering once again why the pantry had a locking doorknob on it. They snuck out and made a pit stop in the bathroom before joining everyone as they enjoyed the blessedly final chords of Grace and Emma Rivers’s horrendous rendition of “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. They had maybe another hour before it was time to leave for Bowie Lake, and it looked as though the food had just been served.
“Damn, were we in the pantry that long?” Charity whispered as they slipped into a chaise lounge together.
Justin wrapped his arms around her as she settled against his chest, every nerve ending in her body vibrating with gratitude for her kinky husband. Admiring the ring as it sparkled on her finger, she sighed happily when Justin kissed the top of her head.
In her ear he whispered, “You were a very resistant, virginal serving wench, but you’re mine now.” His words were humorous, but she heard the deep love that resonated in them. He was willing to do just about anything to make her happy, including concocting a marauding Viking for her to role-play with. Feeling incredibly sappy, and for once having no snarky remark to say, she looked up at him and smiled, receiving his tender kiss.
The more musically blessed in the bunch seized control of the microphone, and Rachel asked Duke Rivers to cue “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, and then she pointed at Michael Martinez and said into the microphone, “I know that you know this one, Michael-baby. Come on up here and sing it with me.”
Utterly fearless, Teresa, Angel, and Joaquin’s six-year-old son jumped up. “You got it, Rachel-baby.”
As Rachel got Michael set up with his own microphone, Duke said, “Before there was Lady Gaga there was Lady Soul, right? Ready, Rachel?”
“Give it to me,” Rachel quipped sassily, and the music started. She copped an attitude and belted out the first line of the song.
Michael struck a pose and echoed back with the second line. He grinned at her as they took turns singing the lines of the verses.
Charity snickered as Michael swiveled his little hips and danced with Rachel and they sang the choruses together. To Justin she said, “Think he knows he’s singing a woman’s song?”
Justin laughed. “I don’t think he cares! Oh, look. Little man is fixin’ to bust a move!”
Michael looked up at Rachel, grinning like a Cheshire cat, and sang to her about how her kisses were sweeter than honey.
Rachel swiveled her neck and shook her finger as she swung her hips in her best Aretha Franklin imitation, telling him that so was her money.
Their antics had everyone laughing and wiping tears from their eyes as Rachel and Michael brought it home with style.
Grace nudged Ethan and arched a brow. “I saw ‘Homeboy’ by Eric Church in the playlist, Ethan. You sounded so good when you sang along with the radio the other day. Why don’t you give it a try?”
Ethan chuck
led. “I don’t know. I need to check that last brisket that’s still on the pit.”
Grace giggled and shrugged. “Oh, okay. That’s all right. I wanted to sing Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ anyway.” As she rose from her chair all eyes were glued on Ethan imploringly. Charity put her hands to together in a prayerful gesture that made him roll his eyes, but he nodded. The guy was blessed with golden pipes, just like Eli. Charity was relieved when he stopped Grace and got up instead.
“Well, maybe just this once, Gracie, but I’m a little rusty.”
Duke cued it up and handed him a mike. “I owe him one,” Justin whispered. Charity elbowed and him and snickered.
The instrumentals began and Ethan didn’t miss a beat, singing about a small-town boy trying to pretend he fit into a culture foreign from the one he was raised in.
His voice was compelling as he sang the song from the perspective of a big brother just trying to protect his sibling and keep his family intact. Charity found herself nodding her head as he sang the song, making it look effortless. Justin tapped his foot on the end of the chaise as he flicked his thumb against the armrest.
Charity looked around the group and smiled. What a wonderful gathering of family and friends. Laughter bubbled inside her as she watched Beau and Justine talking quietly together while they ate. She could recall a time when she understood why some species ate their young when they used to bicker constantly. Now high schoolers at fifteen and sixteen, they made Charity feel like she and Justin were on the downhill slide in raising them. Soon they’d spread their wings and make their own choices.
Will Peterson played in Ash’s lap while Juliana sat at his side, leaning in for a kiss and looking like the newlyweds they still acted like. Seth and Jayne sat side by side at a picnic bench, eating and listening to the music.
Charity had to admit that from all appearances, Seth and Jayne were hitting it off nicely. He hadn’t made any moves to kiss her or anything, but he also wasn’t giving Buck and Chad much room to work their charms, either.
The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 4 Page 63