It was Wednesday before I had my answer. Mom said she’d like to see me, but there was no extra money. If I came to her, I’d have to get a job immediately or starve. It was more than I had come to expect, and at least it seemed she still loved me and wanted me. I broke down in tears, wishing Russ would comfort me, but he continued to leave me alone. Next time, I’d be careful what I wished for.
In addition to the discouraging message from my mom, I was afraid I had even bigger problems, and no one could help me with them. My period was now a week late, and I could no longer chalk it up to stress. I struggled to remember every occasion when Russ and I had made love, even back at the cabin, which was the most likely time.
I could only remember one time when Russ hadn’t used a condom, but that had been well after what should have been my fertile time, only a week before I was due. Could the stress have delayed ovulation, too? I didn’t know, and I couldn’t ask. Nor could I ask for a pregnancy test. I was still leery of Janet’s judgment, although she was treating me civilly. And I knew that if Russ suspected anything, he’d never let me go. I would just have to wait until either my missing period showed up or I left the ranch to find out for sure.
§
Meanwhile, there were delays in getting the sheriff to act to take my father and the others into custody. He had made inquiries in Kingman, and at first the DA’s office couldn’t find the case, since we hadn’t thought to get a case number. Russ called then, and got the case number, but found out that the warrants still hadn’t been issued, as the case was being reviewed to see if my deposition constituted probable cause. There were some dissenters in the office who thought the fact that I was a fugitive from the community tainted my testimony.
That made Russ so angry that he hired a lawyer in Arizona to look into filing a civil suit against both the RALDS community and the DA in my behalf. An idea about what I could do about the younger women and their children began to form in my mind.
When the arrest warrants were finally issued, a question arose about whether Wyoming and Arizona had reciprocity for the type of charges that were filed. The legal wrangling went on for days, and meanwhile Russ’s hands were tied up patrolling the ranch perimeter and chasing off any trespassers.
I was mortified that all this was costing Russ valuable time, not to mention money, but he still would not hear of me leaving before the men were in custody. Because it was not for me, I managed to call Russ’s attorney and outline my idea for the women, which I’d need to have settled before the arrests were made. He told me he’d get in touch with the Mohave County DA and make some inquiries, after which he would come out and help me talk to Russ about it.
My resolve broke down one night when I was feeling especially lonely. It had been days since Russ and I had talked as friends, and I knew it was my fault. Considering everything he was doing for me anyway, it occurred to me that I should at least be civil. I should have known that ‘civility’ is not a possible state of affairs for people who shared the stormy passion that Russ and I shared.
It started just before I was ready for bed, when Russ came into the library and gazed at me, a habit he had developed over the past couple of weeks. Instead of ignoring him as I had been doing, I looked up to meet his eyes, with what I hoped was an apology in mine.
“Russ, I’ve treated you badly over the past three weeks, and I’m sorry. None of this was your doing. You’ve been nothing but kind, and I want you to know I appreciate it, even when I’m being a bitch. I just hate being a burden on you like this.”
Instantly, he was at my side, extending an arm around my shoulders and tilting my chin upward with the other hand. “Kitten, I’ve missed you. Am I forgiven for whatever I did to piss you off?”
“Whatever you did? Russ, you didn’t do anything. It’s the situation I’m pissed off about. I’m not mad at you.” Well, I was, but not for a reason I could tell him. That I would keep to myself, no matter what.
I just couldn’t let him know I was carrying his child. For that matter, I wasn’t really angry about being pregnant, only the awkward position it put me in. I loved this baby already, even though it could only be a collection of disorganized cells at the moment. It was part of Russ, and despite all we had gone through and all my protestations, I couldn’t escape the fact that I loved him. I was beginning to understand that, even though I was still determined to leave, I would be back, preferably sooner rather than later.
Russ pulled me closer, gazing into my eyes until he dropped his to my lips. The familiar fullness in all my parts rose up as he kissed me, at first tenderly and then with possessive passion. All but swooning, I melted into the kiss and returned it. Well, I had meant to be civil, but this was delicious. Maybe I could have one more taste of it before I went away. When he whispered to me, “Bedroom. Now,” my response was, “Yes. Please, yes.”
Russ jumped to his feet, pulling me with him and down the hall, clutching my hand as if I might escape had he let go. He strode into my room with me in tow and slammed the door, then turned and pulled me into him again for more kisses, accompanied by frantic pulling at my clothes. We separated only long enough for him to undress me completely and then pick me up and place me in the center of the bed, before he tore off his own clothes, staring at me all the while, and pounced on me. I could only watch, bemused, as his erection, freed from his clothing, sprang out proudly. My hands rose to reach for it, like a child begging for a toy.
“Kitten, my god, I’ve missed this,” he murmured, dipping his head to tease at my nipple with his lips and tongue. I was beyond speech. How did he do it? How did he take me from a neutral mood to blazing passion in one kiss? I relished the feel of his heavy body pinning mine to the bed, wanting nothing more than to become fused to him, our skin welded together, his lips on mine. Now his hands were roaming my body, re-learning my curves, caressing my breasts, and then suddenly, he drew back a little and looked at me in puzzlement. “Have you gained some weight?” he asked.
Disoriented by the change, I just stared at him. When the question sunk in, I said, “I wouldn’t be surprised, the way Janet feeds us and I lie around reading all the time. Why?”
Hefting one breast, he said, “These seem bigger.”
Oh, no. He’d be onto my secret if I didn’t distract him. “Are you complaining?”
“Not at all,” he grinned, and proceeded to show, rather than tell me, just how much he appreciated the change. By the time he finished ravishing my breasts with hands, lips, tongue and teeth, I was writhing under him, begging for respite there and touches where I was turning to molten lava, at my core.
Russ bruised my lips with hard kisses, forcing them open to plunder my mouth with his tongue, sweet with cloves and a slight tang of whiskey. His hand finally reached to give me the touch I craved, dipping into my center for the moisture there and using it to tease my clit with feather-light circles. As much as I wanted his lips back on my nipples, or his shaft buried deeply within me, my driving need was to feel what he was doing to that hard bud until I could no longer resist the building orgasm. I clutched his shoulders, desperate for the release, and cried for more.
Without missing a stroke with his finger, Russ shifted on the bed until he could spread my legs and use his tongue where his finger had been only a moment before, the first touch sending me crashing into the orgasm. Powerful spasms shook me, and tears burst from my eyes as I wailed my pleasure.
When I had settled a little, Russ joked, “Miss me much?” I couldn’t laugh, there was not enough breath left in my body. But, I could seize him where it counted and kiss him deeply. I could do to him what he had just done to me, and I had every intention of making it last as long as I could. With effort, I rolled us over so that I was on top.
“You’re in for it now, mister,” I warned him.
“I’m scared,” he grinned. I swung one leg across him and came up to a sitting position, pinning him with me astraddle his carved abdomen. “You should be.” Leaning forward, I kissed him lightl
y and pulled away when he went for a deeper kiss, then spread my chest and tummy as tightly as I could over his chest, rotating my hips to bring my moist core just to touch the tip of his erection. He moaned.
Scooting downward, still pressed into him, I settled his shaft into the hollow between my breasts and kissed his chest, nipping here and there, licking his flat nipples for the pleasure of seeing them draw up into little hard seeds. Russ was pumping into my chest, his eyes fixed on mine as he looked down at me, and his breath coming in ragged gasps. I put my hands on the sides of my breasts to squeeze him between them more tightly. Sometime it may be fun to see if I could get him off that way, I thought; but for now I had other plans.
Scooting down even further, I wriggled between his legs and spread them wide, giving me access to all the places I intended to lick, suck and stroke until he begged for mercy. I drew myself up to my knees, and bent to start my torture at the bend of his knees, reaching under with my tongue to tickle him there. Then I reached up to take him lightly with one hand, the better to judge how my actions were affecting him. When I licked the back of his other knee, I was gratified to feel the leap of his shaft in my hand.
Nibbling and licking, I worked my way up to his groin, where I pressed my tongue to the crease between his leg and his sac. More leaps of his cock, accompanied now by moans of pleasure, rewarded my efforts. I was careful not to squeeze him, because all I wanted to do was feel his response as I blissfully licked every inch of his scrotum and buried my tongue into the crease on the other side. Russ was clutching the sheets, so I rose to my knees and guided his hands to the sides of my head.
Then, as slowly as I could, I leaned forward, resting my hands on either side of his hips, and took him into my lips. Instantly, his hands tightened on my hair. As I slid down his straining cock with my lips and tongue, slowly, slowly, to savor the sensations and the familiar tangy, salty taste, he bucked to greet me midway. At last, he clutched my head more firmly and pushed me all the way down until he was buried to the root in my mouth.
I was near delirious, not only from the exquisite sensations but because of the heady mix of emotions that went through me at that moment. Lust, yes, but also a deeply-held desire to cherish him and offer myself to him in any way he wanted me. It felt like worship. When I shifted my weight to one side to free my hand to tickle and scratch lightly at his balls, he began a rhythmic thrusting that I couldn’t control. So I opened my throat as widely as I could while keeping a firm grip on him with my lips and tongue and let him fuck my mouth, until he abruptly stopped and pulled away with a gasp.
“No, Russ, finish,” I said, eager to give him that, the only gift that was uniquely mine to give.
“I don’t want to come in your mouth,” he said, “not this time. Turn around.”
He guided me with his hands as I rotated to a kneeling position between his legs, my back to him, and then guided his erection to my center. Then he held my hips and pulled me onto him, burying that shaft of steel into me more deeply than ever. I cried out, causing him to pull back a little. “Did I hurt you?”
“No! God, that’s good. More!”
He thrust into me again and again, sending waves of delightful sensation out in circles, like a stone dropped into water. Another orgasm built and shook me, causing him to thrust even faster. My cries were continuous now, and I made no effort to muffle them. If Janet could hear us, so be it. At last, with a shout of his own followed by a long groan, Russ came, triggering another climax for me.
When it was over, I collapsed forward, pulling him out too abruptly and making him swear. When I could move, I crawled around and nestled into his arms, no longer concerned about anything except how good he made me feel, and how safe in his arms. Then we slept, not knowing that everything was to change in the morning.
Chapter 13
Someone was knocking on the door, but I couldn’t fully wake up to answer it. Russ stirred beside me, pulled his arm out from under my head, and got up. He walked over to the door and said, “What is it?”
Janet’s voice answered. “Boss, the sheriff is here, wants to talk to you. Are you ever going to get up?”
I opened one eye and examined the clock on the bedside table. “Good lord, Russ, it’s 9:30.”
He glanced back at me apologetically, and said through the door, “I’ll be right out. Thanks, Janet.”
“No problem, boss. Are you and Charity going to want breakfast?”
I most certainly wanted breakfast, I was ravenous. I nodded my head vigorously, and Russ answered, “You bet. In about half an hour.”
He threw on the clothes that he had discarded last night, and left me to get up more leisurely. I decided on a quick shower, and went in search of him about twenty minutes later, my long wet hair wrapped in a towel twisted turban-style. I found Russ in the office with the sheriff, who regarded me with amusement.
“So this is the little girl who’s causing all the fuss. You really put one over on me, Russ White. You had her all along, didn’t you?”
I went on the defensive immediately, being anything but a ‘little girl’, but Russ beat me to it. “Oh, don’t you mistake it, Sheriff, she’s all woman.” Now my most dreaded thing happened, I blushed. A redhead’s blush is not a pretty pinking of the skin. No, it’s a full-on, blotchy, red color that clashes with our hair and is impossible to miss. Naturally, it made the Sheriff roar with laughter.
Just as I was about to leave in irritation, Russ’s hand snaked out and caught me. “Kitten, the sheriff says he’s taken all the RALDS men into custody, but they won’t identify themselves. He wants you to come to the station and tell him who’s who.”
“What if some of them don’t have arrest warrants? Won’t I be in danger?”
The sheriff spoke up. “We’ll give you a police escort back here. Russ can handle one or two rowdy stragglers, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“All right. Do we have time for breakfast? I’m starving.” Receiving the sheriff’s nod, I went through to the kitchen and sat down to the plate of bacon, eggs and toast that Janet had rustled up for us. Russ joined me in a moment and told me he’d take me to town, that the sheriff hadn’t wanted to wait. He, too, ate with gusto, and went to take his shower while I enjoyed a cup of tea with Janet.
There was no pretending that Russ and I weren’t still sleeping together now. She had found his bed empty, and she knew where I slept, even if I hadn’t said a word when she came to the door. Apparently, she didn’t feel it was her place to comment now, though, so nothing was said.
§
When we got to the sheriff’s office, he showed us the warrants he had obtained from Arizona, then led me to a viewing room where the men were lined up. Instead of picking one out of several, like a normal line-up, I was supposed to identify each of them. I recognized my dad, of course, but no warrant had been issued for him. When I asked why, the sheriff said it was his understanding that there was no evidence he had married or coerced an under-aged girl. I guessed my flight had put an end to his hopes for the fifteen year-old, and wondered how she felt about it.
There were five others, with warrants for five, but one didn’t match up. There was a warrant for the Prophet, but he wasn’t among the five men standing with my father. I didn’t recognize the other man who didn’t have a warrant.
When it was done, I was shaking with stress and fear, and the sheriff kindly offered a cup of coffee. Russ said it was the worst coffee he’d ever tasted, so maybe that was the reason I almost couldn’t keep it down. The sheriff told Russ he’d give us a half-hour head start and send a deputy to follow us home before releasing my father and the stranger. That would give us time to prepare for whatever retaliation they may have in mind.
As it turned out, the deputy assigned to keep an eye on them followed them out of Rawlins and halfway back to the Utah border before concluding they were going home instead of sticking around to harass us anymore. I breathed a sigh of relief when Russ reported that call to me.
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br /> There would come a time when I’d see my father again, either to confront him with his bad deeds or to forgive him, I wasn’t sure which. But it would be a while before I was ready for that. For now, I had to find again the resolve to make Russ let me leave and go to my mother.
I felt literally torn in two. My head told me that I had to straighten my life out before I could be prepared to be with Russ, if I ever could be. I needed closure with my mom, a GED if not a college degree to be a match for a man with a Harvard education.
Not only that, but more immediately, I needed to figure out what I was going to do about the baby. This is what I told myself, and the first couple of points were valid. But there was never any question about the baby, not really. I loved her. I knew she was a girl, and she was Russ’s daughter. I could no more give her up than voluntarily cut off a leg or an arm. All I could hope for was that someday Russ would forgive me for not telling him before I left. I simply couldn’t face the fight he would put up to keep me there.
It was time to talk to Russ about my plan, now that the RALDS men, a significant number of the leadership, each responsible for at least three wives and more than a dozen children, had been picked up.
“Russ, I have a confession to make,” I started. He looked up at me from his cup of coffee, an interested expression in his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about the women, and I made a call to your lawyer.”
Now his eyebrows rose, but I was relieved to see no irritation in his expression. “And?” he prompted.
“You know some of those wives are still underage, and they have no idea how to support themselves, right? And some may have small children.”
“I know. What are you thinking?” I had stalled long enough, so I pushed through my nerves and told him.
“Could you bring them here? I mean, you have all these spare rooms, and it would just be long enough to help them out, get them divorces or emancipated, or whatever they needed. You said you’d help me get an education, could you see your way clear to help them, too? When I get a job, I’ll send you whatever money I can, to help.” My words came out in a rush, not organized like I had intended, but going straight from the request to the justification.
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