The Barter System (28 page)

She held him while he slept
and woke him in the morning with her mouth worshiping his cock.  She made them
stay another day, enjoying the ‘wild animal sex’ he’d always wished to
experience. 

On the morning of her fifth
day with him, they rode back to the house and her heart was heavy.  Her time
with Lucas was growing short.

Chapter
Thirteen

Cars in the driveway
announced the company he’d forgotten he’d invited and he was resentful of the
intrusion.  As they stabled the horses, she came to him, sensing his unease as
she always sensed his need for her. 

“I won’t let you miss a
chance to be around people.”  She kissed him passionately, touching his face
and shoulders.  “The more social you are, the more I’ll praise you for it
later.” 

She smiled slyly and he
hugged her to him.  They walked hand in hand to the mudroom, dropping their
jackets and boots and padding to the living room in socks.  The people waiting there
stood to greet them and Lucas froze behind her, his hands on her shoulders snug
with tension. 

A blond man with a similar
build to Lucas stepped forward.  “You must be Riya, I’m Matthew Simpson, and
I’ve been friends with Lucas since before we started school.  This is my wife,
Tia.”  He extended his hand and she took it warmly. 

“This is John Reynolds; he
runs the ranch for Lucas.”  A huge barrel-chested man smiled and nodded at
her.  “Becca and Sharon Stewart, they run the bed and breakfast you passed on
the way out of Billings.”  They smiled and took her measure, she took theirs
noting them to be about Lucas’ age with trim bodies and warm smiles.  “These
are Lucas’ boys, Robert and Timothy.  They came up from the university for a
visit.” 

The boys were identical
twins, very good-looking spitting images of their father, and gave her mock
salutes from where they stood by the fireplace.  Lucas’ hands tightened further
on her shoulders and she unconsciously reached up to lay her fingers over his. 

“It is very nice to meet all
of you.  I’m Riya O’Connell.  As I hear all of you know, I’m a psychiatrist
doing research for my dissertation.”  She smiled warmly at everyone and added,
“And this looks remarkably like an intervention.  I’m not quite sure if I’m
flattered or offended yet but I’ll withhold opinion until we find food.  I’m
starving and Lucas was ready to chew on his own arm when we were riding down
from the ridge.” 

With that, she turned and
gestured for all of them to follow her to the kitchen.  Lucas was practically
on top of her and she held his hand firmly.

Lucas’ sons positioned
themselves on the other side of the kitchen island, watching her with
interest.  She began pulling cold cuts from the fridge and asked if anyone else
wanted a sandwich.  Matthew told her they had all had lunch before heading out
to the ranch.  Lucas stood behind her, leaning on the counter, his arms crossed
over his chest, every muscle in his body taut. 

Since she couldn’t tell the
twins apart, she asked both with polite curiosity, “Why are you watching me so
intently?”  They had the good grace to appear embarrassed. 

“Well, you seem
pretty…familiar with the place.”

“Hmm.  I’ve been here for
five days.”  She placed her hands flat on the counter and met their gazes
directly.  “Since we didn’t leave the house for the first three days, I know
where food, coffee, and the bathroom happen to be.  Anything else?” 

Their faces tightened but
they said nothing so she resumed making a sandwich no one could possibly fit in
their mouth.  When it was done, she grabbed out a bag of chips and added it
next to the sandwich.  Then she turned and handed the plate to Lucas with a
wink and a smile.

She turned back, making
herself a much smaller sandwich and grabbing carrot sticks.  Then she placed
the plate on the counter and hopped up to sit near where Lucas was leaning. 
She bumped him with her shoulders and he smiled for the first time since they’d
entered the outer yard on their horses. 

A tense silence descended
from the others but Riya wasn’t fazed.  Intimidation wasn’t going to work. 
Apparently, the twins figured that out.  “Have you been having sex with our
dad?” one of them asked her.  Lucas came up off the counter in fury and she put
a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to her.

“Lucas.  I’d actually like
to answer that.”  She placed her hand on his face.  “I’m very good at answering
impertinent questions.”  She turned to the young men on the other side of the
counter and smiled her sweetest smile. 

“No, I haven’t been having
sex with your father.  I’ve been having
mind-blowing-can’t-remember-my-name-screaming-orgasms-call-911
sex with your father.  All over this house filled with nothing over the last
year but utter loneliness and pain.  In every possible position.  In the
stables and in the cave we camped in for two days…sorry to spoil your boyhood
memories with that.” 

She hopped off the counter,
hot now.  “In addition, I find your concern interesting.  Where the hell have
you been?  I was here for less than six hours and likely knew him better than
either of you, not that it looks like you’ve bothered in the past years.  You
want to be catty?  Be my guest, but you aren’t going to like my claws, boys.” 
With that, she jumped back up on the counter and picked up her sandwich. 

Becca and Sharon smiled at
her, “Good for you, honey.  About time someone got close enough to fuck his
misery away.  Oh, please Lucas.  We’ve both flirted with you but we weren’t
nearly as brave as this little hellion.”  They nodded to her, “You have our
utmost respect.”

Matt and Tia were floored
but smiling.  John was quiet but the smug look on his face said ‘good for
Lucas’. 

Robert and Timothy were
speechless.  Finally, one of them said, “He’s been lonely and in pain since our
mother
died.  Who are you to come in here and mess with things?”

Matthew got in on this one,
“Boys, your mother hated her life and tortured your father for years.  Grow
up.  You’re the ones who found her diaries before you went away to college. 
You know what your dad’s life was like.”

“She was
our
mom, and
his
wife.  There should be pain.” 

Lucas sucked air in like he
was suffocating.  She had her hand on the back of his neck.

Riya stared at them in
amazement and felt her temper snap its leash.  “If you didn’t look exactly like
your father, I would question your paternity you selfish little pricks. 
There
should be pain?
  How long until his pain would have been enough?  Until he
killed himself?  You don’t look like
you’re
suffering overly much. 
Enjoying life and college?  Friends, girlfriends?  Getting laid on the
regular?  You don’t look like
you’re
in deep mourning.  Oh, wait, you
allowed your father to fall on his own sword and suffer for all of you, to keep
suffering while you went about your business and forgot all about him.  You
should be ashamed of yourselves.  You’re a disgrace to a man I’ve known for
five days and obviously respect more than you do.” 

She paused and took a deep
breath.  “If you’re worried I’m going to tarnish your mother’s memory, well
you’re even more childish than I think you are.  I lost my mother when I was
seventeen and no matter how many women my father fucks, it doesn’t change her
for me.  And, unlike you, I realized my father’s loneliness would kill him one
day.  I made small talk with his flavor of the week and smiled pretty because
my father was happy for just a little while.  I’d take them shopping, take them
to lunch, wave goodbye in sympathy when he was through with them.  And I’d do
it again. 
In a heartbeat.
  Because my father is the only blood relative
I have left in my life and I’d do anything to see him smiling.” 

Pointing her finger at them
in fury, she added, “You two need to grow up.  Say one more thing about your
father deserving his pain and I will personally kick your ass.  I’m a black
belt so I wouldn’t fucking push it.”  With that, she jumped off the counter and
headed for the bedroom, “I’m going to shower and change for dinner because I
just can’t stand for the fun to end.”

When they all heard the door
close, Lucas looked at his sons, “All your lives, I’ve been proud you were my
sons.  Proud to call you mine.  Loved you from the moment I held you.  Did my
best,
my best
, every day since to protect you and raise you right.  Your
mother hated me.  She loved you, but she fucking hated me.  No matter how much
I tried to make her love me, she couldn’t…or wouldn’t.”

He took a hard breath, “That
young woman is only here for one week and I’m going to be an open wound when
she leaves because I’ve never felt as alive as I do right now.  So I’m going to
say this one time, if you disrespect her one more time, or compare her to your
mother who never made me feel like I was worth a damn thing, I will personally
throw you out of this house and you will never be welcome here again.  Pride in
both of you, every day.  Until today.” 

Then he went after Riya. 

Tia looked at the boys who
had been her surrogate children all their lives because she couldn’t have any
of her own, “Oh boys, why?  I don’t care what you have to do, but you’d better
make it right with your daddy.  That man has suffered since he was seventeen
and you know it.  Do you begrudge him such a little bit of happiness when she’s
going to be gone in two days?  Fix this.” 

She turned to her husband,
“I suggest we all go look at the horses or some damn thing until they’re
ready.”  He nodded and led her through the mud room. 

The others followed, except
the brothers who started putting food away.  They both noticed neither of the
sandwiches had been eaten.  Alone in the kitchen of their father’s house, the
house he’d built for them when they were six years old, the shame hit them. 

Lucas opened the bedroom
door and saw Riya standing at the window, looking out over the range behind the
house.  “It’s so beautiful here, Lucas.  So wild and open.  You picked a
perfect place for your house.” 

He came up behind her, his
hands on her shoulders.  She was shaking and he knew it was about her father,
not his sons.  He turned her and gathered her into his arms.  She wrapped
around him and sobbed, finally releasing her own pain. 

He was so glad to be the
one.  That she’d chosen him to hold her when she finally let it go.  He held
her as the sobs ratcheted through her, smoothing her hair and whispering to
her, as she’d done for him.  When she began to quiet, he said, “You need to
talk to your father, Riya.  Let him take back the pain you’ve carried for him
because it doesn’t belong to you, baby.  Sweet Riya.  So generous and loving. 
How many pieces of your heart are you going to give away and still have some
for yourself?” 

He stripped them and made
love to her slow and easy, and she cried again after.  Then he led her to the
shower and took his time washing her body and hair.  He put her on the bathroom
counter and brushed and dried her hair. 

She watched him, crying
quietly sometimes. 

Finally she whispered
brokenly, “What have I
done
, Lucas?  I’m going from man to man like a
common whore, ruining lives.”

He grabbed her hard by the
shoulders and shook her lightly.  “No, no, no, Riya…please god, no.  Never,
Riya.  You are not a whore…I couldn’t live if I thought I’d had any part in
making you think that way.  You aren’t ruining anyone’s life.  You’re touching
each person you’re with, not just with your body, with your heart.  You’ve
healed me, made me feel good things for the first time in too many years to
count.  Like life is worth it again.” 

She was crying silently, and
he kissed her tears away, “I’m going to miss you when you leave, Riya.  But
I’ll be able to face the pain of it because you reached in and pulled out the
cancer of pain and guilt I carried.  You showed me how good life can be,
something I’d forgotten.  No matter how long I live, I’ll never forget it; I’ll
never forget you and what you’ve done for me.”