Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion (7 page)

“You’re pregnant?” Evan gasped, so shocked he looked like he went a bit pale. “We’re gonna have a baby?”

Giggling as Wes spun her around again, she said, “Yup. And you better stop spinning me if you don’t want me to toss my cookies.”

Wes set her gently on her feet and steadied her. “Oh, sorry. Hot damn! We’re gonna have a baby!” Wes hollered and high-fived his brother.

Rosemary rolled her eyes and grinned. “Well, technically, I’ll be the one doing the ‘having,’ but yes. Congratulations, daddies!”

Wes grabbed her to him and kissed her soundly on the lips and then allowed Evan to pull her to him for an equally hot, happy kiss.

As they left the dressing room, Wes said, “I think we should take Rosemary home for a nap. If I’d known she was expecting I never would’ve pushed her so hard.”

“I know. I agree. She was tired earlier,” Evan said over her head. “I think she could use a nap, especially since it’s so hot today. That can’t be good for her in this condition.”

“Oh, hell. It starts already,” Rosemary groaned as her men each took an arm and escorted carefully her to the door. “I should’ve waited until I was showing. You two had better not start discussin’ me like I’m not in the room. I’m not made of porcelain.”

“Of course you’re not, baby,” Wes murmured as he helped her over the threshold. “I’ll call Grace and let her know we’ll be back later.”

“I want to share the good news with her and the girls tonight, so don’t tell her.”

“I won’t. You can tell her when we bring you back to the ranch…after your nap.”

Evan patted her back. “You’ll feel all better after your nap.”

“Who said I felt bad? I don’t need a nap.”

Actually, a nap sounds peachy, but I can’t let them boss me, can I?

With his beautiful wife and son playing nearby, Ash Peterson stood chest deep in the water and watched the activity in and around Grace’s swimming pool with lazy enjoyment.

Juliana meandered over to him with their little toddler, Will, splashing in a baby floaty ring. She hooked her arm around Ash’s shoulder and gave him a quick kiss. “Jayne is sure getting some warm looks from the single men at this gathering.” Two of Ash’s recently hired hands were currently flirting with Jayne Sheridan. They’d claimed their seats on the edge of the pool moments after Seth had excused himself to go get him and Jayne a plate of food. “I hope they act like gentlemen when Seth returns with her lunch.” Seth Carter kept an eye on his competition from where he stood waiting near the large barbeque pit underneath the covered deck.

Ash nodded as he surreptitiously slid his hand down Juliana’s bare back to the edge of her swimsuit, just over the crack of her sweet, curvy ass. He slid his finger into the suit, and she gasped and did as he had hoped and moved closer to him as she wiggled away from his tickling fingers.

“Ash, someone will see,” she whispered furtively as his hand ventured farther south over her swimsuit and he slid a finger through one of her leg openings.

Acting like he hadn’t heard her, Ash grinned. “Buck and Chad are good guys. Just testing the waters is all. Can’t say I blame them.”

Jayne laughed at something one of them said but seemed to be keeping her eyes on Seth. When he approached, laden down with food and sodas, she spoke to the cowboys but gestured to Seth, obviously informing them that she wanted Seth to rejoin her. The cowboys leaped up and both helped her to a standing position and greeted Seth, then went over to the coolers for another beer.

Satisfied, Ash said, “See? Perfect gentlemen. Would I hire bad guys?”

Juliana scoffed. “Let’s withhold judgment until they have a few more beers in them.”

Ash shook his head. “When I invited the hands I told them they had a two-beer limit while at this get-together and they couldn’t show up already drunk from somewhere else. I told them this is a respectable, family-type gathering.”

Juliana gazed up at him with her hypnotic wolf-blue eyes and in a breathy whisper asked, “Then can you explain to me why you’re fingering my pussy under my swimsuit with all our friends nearby?”

Will gurgled and splashed playfully in his floating toy as they held it securely, and Ash replied, “I’m holding Will in front of us so no one can
se-ee! Hey!
” He jerked and coughed when toddler Will splashed him right in the face as Juliana caressed and cupped his balls through his swim trunks.

“Turnabout is fair play, cowboy,” she replied with a soft, sexy giggle. “I’m so glad you’ve adjusted to wearing swim trunks.”

Ash stifled a happy groan as she ran the palm of her hand over his cock and balls again. He would’ve thought the cold pool water would discourage a hard-on, but that wasn’t the case as his dick tingled and awakened.

“I’ve discovered the benefits.”

Juliana kissed his shoulder. “This wouldn’t feel near as good if you had on denim cutoffs and underwear, now would it?”

Ash grinned and chuckled. “No. It’d still feel pretty damn good, it’s just a little more intense because the fabric is so thi–in!” He jerked again when her fingertips slid back behind his testicles and pressed against his asshole. “Woman, you’re playing with fire.”

He put the lie to his words when he pressed against her questing hand and growled.

“I love it when you say stuff like that with your Southern drawl, cowboy. I can tell it’s getting to ya.”

Juliana loved anal sex with him, but that only went one way. He’d never wanted anything in his ass, but for the last few months, to liven things up, sometimes she’d stroked and played with his asshole with a little lubricant to help things along. She’d even mentioned trying a prostate massage on him sometime. He still clenched at the thought but had to admit he was more open to it than he had been. He didn’t have any idea where she’d gotten her information from, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. Maybe one day he’d let her try it out.

While she held on to the baby floaty, Ash casually scooted in behind her, looking like all he was doing was cuddling his wife against his chest at the pool’s edge. “You get to me, all right, pretty lady.”

He slid his hand flat against her back, around her waist, and inside her suit. Juliana gasped and bit her lip, inclining her head so no one could see her face behind the brim of her floppy hat as his hand slid straight down her abdomen to her slit, finding it silky and slippery with arousal.

“Lift your knees, darlin’. I’ve got a good hold of you.”

She did as he asked, leaning against him and lifting her knees to hide his intrusion inside her suit in case anyone could see them. He grunted with approval and smiled as she relaxed against him.

Will started singing some nonsensical song at the top of his lungs, and Ash and Juliana both laughed softly as he stroked her clit. This was the good stuff. He had a happy, though sleepy-looking kid, a beautiful, sexy wife, and a very contented life. He just didn’t see how it could get any better.

Looking up, he noticed Grace making her way toward them with baby Rose Marie on her hip. He groaned at the imminent interruption as Juliana arched her back and started riding the finger he’d slid inside her pussy. When she started in with that circular, grinding move he knew she loved what he was doing, and he was sorry to make her stop. She looked up at him with those soft, sexy eyes in confusion as he withdrew his hand and then turned when he said, “Hi, Grace.”
Go ’way, Grace.

“Hey, guys. I’m putting Rose Marie down for her nap upstairs. The playpen is set up for you if you want to put Will down with her, then you two can play for a bit, without having to worry about him. Ethan’s mom will have the baby monitor on inside.”

Ash was suddenly grateful for the interruption.
Bless you, Grace!

“Sure!” Juliana said enthusiastically as she looked back at Ash. “I’ll go put him down and be right back.”

“Sure thing, darlin’.” He helped her out of the pool and extricated a still-singing Will from his floaty.

Juliana crouched down to take him and whispered, “Hold that thought until I get back, cowboy.”

His cock got even harder at the sultry tone she used. “You betcha, pretty lady.”

He heard a horse nicker nearby and waved back at Angel, Joaquin, and Teresa as they trotted by on horseback, headed out for a ride. Angel and Joaquin had grown up in an equine-oriented household, and so it was natural that they’d help Teresa to become comfortable on the back of a horse. They’d even acquired ponies for Michael, and eventually Eleazar, to ride on. For now, Eleazar always rode with one of his daddies and was already very comfortable on horseback.

Seth and Jayne had returned to the edge of the pool and were dangling their feet in the water when Ash heard Charity call out, “Hey, Jayne! I have that swimsuit you wanted to borrow. Come on in the house.”

Ash smiled at the deer-in-the-headlights look Jayne gave Charity.

“Come on, Jayne! It’ll look great!” Charity called with an expression of glee on her face.

Jayne turned to Seth and looked like she was apologizing, but he put up his hand to stop her, stood from the edge of the pool, and helped her up. Jayne’s cheeks turned fire-engine red when he pulled his T-shirt over his head, unzipped his cuffed-up raggedy jeans, and pushed them down. She seemed relieved when he revealed swim trunks much like the ones Ash had on. Ash was impressed by Seth’s extensive body art and noticed that Jayne appeared dazed as she stared at him.

Ash liked Seth’s method, combining a solution-oriented mindset with a little “shock and awe” thrown in to keep things lively. Jayne nodded as Seth cupped her shoulders and quietly spoke. From his vantage point, it seemed Seth was trying to put her at ease. Ash was willing to bet they were the next couple joining the group permanently.

Fifteen minutes later, Juliana returned with Jayne in tow. His wife was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen in her cherry-red one-piece suit, but Jayne was looking noteworthy, too, in a sexy black one piece with more cut-outs than covering. He nearly choked on the beer he was sipping when he glanced over at Seth, who was already in the pool, and saw the way he reacted when he saw Jayne. The guy’s jaw dropped, his eyes bugged, and Ash overheard his softly voiced verbal reaction. “Holy fuck.”

Seth seemed like a fairly serious guy, not prone to great shows of emotion, though it was very clear he was interested in Jayne Sheridan.

Yup, another man done gone.

One of the ranch hands let out a long, low wolf whistle, and Jayne tripped slightly as she made her way back to the pool. Seth was waiting for her as she returned to her seat at the edge. Ash recognized the determined gleam in Seth’s eyes and imagined that he’d worn it himself a time or two when he’d been courting Juliana.

Juliana lowered herself to sit on the edge of the pool next to Ash and rubbed his shoulders and spoke in a low voice. “Those two are done for, I think. Look at the way he stares at her.”

Ash turned so that he was now facing her, positioned between her thighs. “I’d rather look at
you
.”

Juliana snickered and bent down to kiss him. “Good response, Mr. Peterson.”

Ash leered at her satiny ivory-toned cleavage. “Darlin’, I just remembered there’s something I want to show you in the barn.”

Juliana’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, and then a knowing smile appeared on her pretty face. “Oh, yeah?”

“There are two new foals and there’s…a saddle,
yeah
, a new saddle in the tack room I think you’d like. It’s hand-tooled leather and I think you might enjoy using it sometime.” His cock got even harder at the thought of how he wanted her to use it—stark naked, bent over it at just the right height for him to fuck her from behind. His only problem now was that he needed to climb out of the water in a suit that left little to the imagination about the tent pole in his swim trunks.

He bit his lip, and Juliana looked down and noticed the bulge through the few inches of rippling water. Juliana got up, pulled one of the big beach towels from the stack on the table nearby, and handed it to him as he lifted himself from the edge of the pool.

“Here’s something for that rather impressive towel rack you’re sporting.”

“Woman,” he growled, secretly enjoying the sparkle in her teasing eyes. He dried off quickly while facing the house and wrapped the towel around his waist. He slipped on the rubber flip-flops that he still didn’t enjoy wearing, even though they were a better choice than his cowboy boots at the moment, and waited while Juliana put on her cover-up and whispered something to Grace.

Juliana placed her hand in his. “I told her we were taking a little stroll down to the barn to see the new foals.”

“What did she say?”

Juliana giggled. “Have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Ash chuckled as he grabbed bottles of water from a cooler. “Well, that leaves us with
lots
of options.”

“I really do want to see the new babies, though.” Juliana made him jump when she slid the icy-cold bottle down his spine. His cock did not approve of the suggested detour, but he was a sucker for a beautiful redhead.

* * * *

Seth reached for Jayne, to help her into the pool, as she lowered herself to the edge, beating out the other two cowboys who had flirted with her earlier.

Although she seemed self-conscious, he thought she was a knockout in the swimsuit that Charity had brought for her. It was a one piece, made up of triangles joined together so that more of her was revealed than hidden. She put her hands cautiously on his shoulders as he gripped her curvy waist, enjoying the feel of her warm, satiny skin against his fingertips, thanks to all those cutouts.

“You look fantastic, Jayne. Do you need more sunscreen?”

“No, I just applied the waterproof stuff a few minutes ago. I should be okay for a while.”

Regretting the missed opportunity, he helped her into the pool. She shuddered and the black suit glistened in the sun against her creamy, pale skin. He bit his lip when he noticed her hardening nipples.

“Oh, man, it’s c–cold.” She took a breath and submerged herself for a moment and then broke the surface slowly, looking like a raven-haired mermaid now that her hair was wet. Water beaded and dripped from her chin and earlobes and gathered her dark eyelashes into pretty, spiky clumps, and his heart did a weird little lurch. The sunlight on the water sparkled in her unusual eyes as he watched her looking at his tattoos. She licked her lip, and he was glad he was submerged chest deep in the water when his cock hardened at the sight.

“What was it like when you got the first one?”

Seth pointed to the black-and-gray biomechanical tattoo on his left biceps. “This was the first one. I got it when I was twenty-one,” he said as they both leaned back, side by side, against the pool’s edge. “The first minute or so, I remember thinking, ‘Whoa, what have I just signed on for?’ I was an art student in Denver and I had the average American male fascination with body art and figured since I’d come of age I’d celebrated by getting a tattoo. It hurt like fire the first couple of minutes but then the pain dulled and became bearable. I was fascinated watching it come to life.”

He pointed at the tattooed gear mechanism that was drawn to look as though it were a mechanical arm which was partially visible behind a cloak of bony scales. “I liked it so much, I asked for more, and by the time my friend, and eventually my teacher, was done, I had two full sleeves. By my final year in school, I’d made enough money to pay off my school loans doing tattoos on the side.”

“How long did this take? May I?” She held her hand a couple of inches away from his arm.

“Sure.” Although chilled from the water, her gentle fingertip sent a fiery bolt of electricity up his arm and straight down to his cock. He breathed deep and hid his response because she was so self-conscious about touching him. “Both sleeves took several sessions over the course of a year. I didn’t want a collection of different designs but something that looked cohesive, and this is what we came up with.”

She gave him a questioning glance. “H. R. Giger?”

Impressed, Seth replied, “Yes. I was a big fan at the time. Still am.”

“Very dark surrealism. I’m a fan of the
Alien
movie series.”

“You? Really?”

Jayne’s mischievous grin captivated him. “You might be surprised what I’m a fan of. My DVD collection’s pop-culture iconography runs the gamut.”

Maybe I’ll get a chance to see for myself.
“I have an odd question for you.” Jayne tilted her head and her direct gaze made him feel a little self-conscious as she waited. “What color are your eyes?”

Jayne chuckled and the feminine, amused sound was sexy as hell. “Depends on the time of day and what colors are around me. They’re mostly blue right now, I would imagine.” She gestured to the pool water surrounding them. “But they’re blue, green, brown, and light golden brown. Odd, I know.” She flicked her lashes closed before looking up at him.

“Not odd at all. Beautiful and striking. It’s hard not to stare.”

She chuckled again. “I know the feeling.” He noticed when she veered the subject of their conversation back to him. “So your teacher did these?” Her fingertip sliding over his bicep was both arousing and distracting.

“Yes, Jim Durbin. He has a tattoo studio in Morehead. Desired Ink.”

“I see. So will you—”

“Hey, Jayne!” one of the cowboys who’d been flirting with her earlier called out, interrupting her. “Want to play volleyball with us?”

Jayne smiled but shook her head. “No thanks, Buck. I’m not much for ball sports.”

Her cousin Charity snickered from her lounge chair as she got up. “Oh, I’m all for anything that gets balls flying in my face.”

Seth and Jayne laughed at Charity’s comment, but then she turned to him and murmured, “I want to hear more about your tattoos.”

“You’re a librarian. I’ll bet you already know most anything I could tell you.”

“You’d be surprised by just how limited my knowledge is on some subjects.” As soon as the comment was out of her mouth she bit her lip, and her cheeks turned a rosy hue. “But I don’t want to bore you either.”

“Where do you want me to start?”