Lassoing the Virgin Mail-Order Bride (8 page)

I hear a splash, like liquid is being poured onto the ground.

“Should we let the horses out?” Cash’s face fills with rage at the sound of Billy’s voice.

“No. It might draw attention. Just light it already,” June replies, and that’s when I smell the gas.

“When I let you go, you’ll get down that ladder and you run,” Cash whispers to me. “Promise me. You’ll get down that ladder and run. You clear those doors and you get Earl.”

I nod and he kisses me briskly, then he drags us both to our feet. He jumps right over the side, not bothering with the ladder. I follow down as quickly as I can. I see him on top of Billy, June just standing there, looking on in shock. I just turn and run like Cash told me to.

When I clear the barn doors I start screaming. I see Earl and two other hands come flying out of his little cabin in a dead run towards me. I point to the barn and they run past me.

I don’t know what to do. Cash told me to get out of the barn. It takes everything in me to stay rooted to my spot, and thank God Cash comes out just a few minutes later. I jump on him and he catches me.

“Thank you, sweetheart. You don’t know how important it is when I tell you to do something out here and you do it. It means I don’t have to worry.”

I smile at him. “I hope you just mean on the farm because that won’t work so well anywhere else.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The doors start to push open and Cash puts me on my feet as Billy and June are pulled out of the barn. Each is held by the arm. Billy looks like he can barely stand. Blood is gushing from his nose and one eye is already starting to swell shut.

I can’t stop the gasp that leaves my mouth.

“He tried to light our barn on fire, sweetheart. With you in it. He’s lucky he can breathe, let alone walk,” Cash says between clenched teeth, like the words taste like acid in his mouth.

I place one hand around his arm, trying to get him to calm down a little.

June just sobs. She jerks from Earl’s hold and he lets her go. She tumbles in a pile on the dirt.

I turn at the sound of a truck I don’t recognize coming up the drive.

It comes to a stop about twenty feet from us, and a man who looks to be in his fifties pulls himself from the truck.

“Daddy. I didn’t do anything!” June sobs from the ground.

The man just shakes his head like he’s not real sure what to do with his sobbing daughter.

“You going to call the Sheriff?” he finally asks.

“That depends,” Cash says, turning to fully face the man. His eyes come towards me as if just seeing me for the first time, and Cash steps in front of me, making me want to thump him on the head. I hear Earl chuckle behind me.

“Don’t,” Cash growls, and I know he’s really on edge. I place my hands on his back and he leans into them a little.

“On what?” June’s father asks.

“I want him gone,” he says referring to Billy, “and you have got to do something with your daughter. They just tried to burn my fucking barn down with my wife inside.”

“We didn’t know you were in there!” June screams, admitting her own guilt.

Everyone just ignores her. Cash continues. “This leads me to believe that they also had a hand in the half dozen other incidents I’ve had happen all over my and my wife’s land.”

My heart melts a little at his sweet words. I don’t even think he caught what he said or what it means to me.

“I guess I have no choice. He’s gone, but my farm will go with him. I don’t have a foreman, and God knows I can’t do it myself anymore. My arthritis barely lets me get out of bed.”

“Jim, that’s not my problem, but if you want I’ll let you have Brandon. I’m sure he’d jump at the chance to be a foreman for a farm, not to mention having him over there might cool this little war that has built between these two farms. I know I don’t want you losing your land. I’d probably get saddled next to God knows who.”

“Don’t do it, Daddy.” June has stopped crying and her anger is plain on her face.

“Get in the truck, June.”

“But, Daddy, I—”

“Get in the goddamn truck!”

June gasps and stomps towards the truck. She gets in and slams the door.

“Billy, you’re fired,” Jim says. His voice makes me feel a little sorry for Billy. “Thank you, Cash, for not calling the cops. I don’t know what’s gotten into June, but I’ll get it all worked out and you have my word she won’t be bothering you again.”

“I’ll talk to Brandon tonight and send him over first thing tomorrow morning to work out all the details.”

“Sounds good.”

“And, Jim, I really think you should think my offer over again. I’ll buy it all, even keep the men you got working over there, if you want out. Take you and your wife a little closer to the city. Retire.”

“I think I might take you up on that. I’ll let you know tomorrow.” I hear the truck door close and pull off.

Cash turns to look down at me, his eyes going soft.

“You can just buy all his land like that?” I ask. He’s showed me where their land meets his. They look to have as much as Cash does, and that’s a lot. I can’t even imagine what something like that might cost.

“Sweetheart, I got oil on my land. There isn’t much around here I can’t buy if we want it,” he tells me, brushing a curl out of my face and tucking it behind my ear.

“But will you have to work more if you get all that land? I don’t want you working more.” I pout a little, and Cash throws his head back and laughs. A full, deep laugh that comes from deep in his chest.

“I just told you you're filthy rich and all you can think about is not having enough time with me?”

“
You’re
filthy rich,” I correct him, not caring even a little about his money. It isn’t worth anything without him.

“Pretty sure it’s ours. Don’t recall you signing a prenup.”

My mouth falls open. I didn’t even think of that. Well, I really didn't have time to, what with how fast Cash rushed me in and out of that courthouse.

Then, I’m in his arms.

“Get Mr. Buckman off our land, Earl,” Cash barks as he strides towards the house with me over his shoulder.

“With pleasure, boss,” I hear Earl say.

When we get inside, Cash kicks the door shut, and I turn the lock without having to be asked.

“Sweetheart, you’re about to be sore all over again.”

T
aking Clare to our bedroom
, I smack her ass playfully on the way. She giggles with delight, and it makes my cock even harder. Hearing her happy is all I ever want in life. Well, that and babies.

It’s been a couple of days, so she’s had time to heal. Now I’m ready to relive our wedding night and try to top it. It was silly being shy about telling her I was a virgin, but she was, too, so I guess she should have known the feeling better than anyone. I’m glad that I waited until the right one came along. Because she damn sure is. She’s the only one for me, and I want to spend the rest of our lives showing her all the reasons why.

When I toss her in the middle of the bed and climb on top of her, she continues to giggle. I pull her clothes from her body, and she starts to do the same to me, and in no time we’re both naked and smiling like idiots.

“I love you,” I say through a smile, and she reaches up and touches my face.

“I love you, too, Cash.”

Sliding between her legs, I don’t tease either of us as I press my cock to her opening. Our eyes stay locked, and we hold one another as I ease inside of her slowly. I give her all of me until there’s not an inch left, the root of my cock pressing against her pussy.

Once I’m inside of her tightness, I just hold it there, wanting to feel her warmth surrounding me. I put my forehead to hers and feel her fingernails lightly scrape my back. Her hips start to move under me, and I realize her need for me is growing.

As I rock in and out of her, her channel grips me and I groan at the feeling.

“So fucking tight. Perfect, baby.”

“Cash, more,” she moans, and I look down to see her closing her eyes and tilting her head back.

I place my mouth on her neck and move down her throat, giving her licks and bites. clings to me as I make love to her body, giving her everything she wants. Her slick sweetness covers my cock, and the smooth glide is almost too much to handle. The tight grip of her pussy starts to contract, and I thank God she’s as close as I am.

“That’s it, Clare. Cum, baby. Cum all over my cock. Get it nice and wet.”

I feel pulses start, and I follow her over the edge. She shouts her pleasure into the room, and I hold her tightly to me as I empty my cum into her waiting womb. I hope we made a baby the first time I took her, but I’ll keep giving her as much of me as she can hold until it plants inside her. I want to breed her and have lots of little babies running around the farm. I want her tied to me in every way possible, and I want her round with my child.

Just thinking about her pregnant makes a little more cum leak out of my cock.

I try not to collapse on top of her when we both come down from the high, but a little of my weight comes down on her, and I hear her grunt under me. She giggles again, and I roll us over so she’s on top and I can stay buried inside of her while I hold her to me.

“You sore?” I ask as I trace the tips of my fingers up and down her naked spine. Her head is on my chest, and she’s breathing evenly. I wonder if she’s fallen asleep already.

“Definitely not.”

I smile at her words and at how sleepy they sound. I expect her to drift off, but after a few moments, she starts to move on top of me. Her pussy grinds down on my still-swollen cock, and I automatically thrust up into her, trying to give her what she needs.

Soon she’s sitting up on me fully and riding me better than any rodeo I’ve ever seen. She loves being on top and in control, and I love holding her hips while she works her pussy. Clare is a goddess when she’s lost to her passion, and I’m a slave to whatever desire she has. I hope to spend the rest of our lives doing exactly this until the end of time.

“
G
randpa Earl
, read us another one. Please!”

Our oldest boy, Joseph, bounces up and down on his spot on the floor, begging for another story. I walk over and wrap my arms around Clare, who’s in the kitchen covering up the cake she made today. There’s only a little bit left, and I have a feeling she’ll be sneaking that tonight after the kids go to bed.

“Alright. One more. And this time I mean it.”

Clare laughs and shakes her head. “Those kids are going to get at least five more stories out of him before he really gives up.”

“They’ve got him wrapped around his finger and they know it.” I kiss the place on her neck just below her ear and squeeze her body closer to mine.

She’s gotten more curves over the years, and I’ve loved seeing her blossom into a full-figured woman. She’s given me five babies, and with each one, she’s looked more beautiful than the last. She had some complications with our youngest, Lily, so we decided it was time to stop. We were blessed with three boys and two girls, so we’ve got a houseful.

I ended up buying the Johnson ranch, and Brandon still runs it. He turned it into a sheep farm, and it does almost as well as the cattle I’ve got here. I don’t have as big of a crew here anymore, what with that side of the business doing so well. I’ve still got about six guys on staff here, including Earl, who has become the grandpa to our little tribe.

The kids love him, and he’s always felt like family, so it just felt natural when we started calling him Grandpa. The old guy likes it just as much according to the smile permanently plastered on his face.

“Come on the porch with me and sit awhile, Mrs. McCallister,” I say against her skin.

Clare shivers under my touch and looks over to where the kids are. They’re all sitting cross-legged on the floor, hanging on every word of the book. She nods and I take her hand, pulling her out the side door and onto the swing with me.

She hums a soft song as I hold her, kissing her forehead and watching the sun go down. We have a simple life here, but it’s the most perfect one I could ever imagine. Clare makes everything easy, and our lives just flow. It’s as if wave after wave of love keeps moving around us, and it’s all her doing.

Clare is the glue that holds me together and the rhythm that makes this place run. She’s the one the boys run to when they scrape their knees and the ones the girls follow around pretending to be just like her. Everything she touches falls in love with her, so I make sure to keep her touches just for me. Even after all these years, I’m still a jealous bastard when it comes to sharing her attention. Thankfully, she understands this and ignores me when I’m being unreasonable.

She’s the other half of my soul and has given me a life I could only have dreamed of years before this. And as I hold her to me and our kids come out one by one to sit on our laps, I just smile and think about how damn lucky I am that she chose me.