“I don’t know, Justin. But it’s not one of them with me. You are. Besides…”
“What?”
“No one can quote Shakespeare like you, handsome.”
The moment had been bittersweet as he’d pulled her into his lap and held her. The weight in her heart had settled and stayed for a long time and they’d never spoken of it again.
Rumors flew for days about the black eyes and bruises the three of them sported but none of them ever said a word, even to their parents. Knowing she’d been the source of their conflict was painful and she’d done her best to heal the wounds. The relationship had recovered as the rest of their senior year flew by, although she’d worried that things would never be the same. Her biggest fear had been hurting the three of them but she’d also known without doubt that it was right between her and Justin.
After graduation, Justin had proposed and he and Charity had been wed in a small ceremony. Grace had served as her maid of honor and like loyal brothers, Val and Ransome had stood up with him.
Val and Ransome had left town the following day and a pattern of absences punctuated by visits that revolved around holidays and birthdays like clockwork had begun. Each year, Val and Ransome had seemed more hardened and rugged, more masculine. And all three men had let their hair grow out, which had really flipped Charity’s switch.
Val’s wavy hair reached his shoulders, and Ransome let his straight hair grow even longer, like Justin’s, down his back. Family genes had blessed all three of them with hair that was so black it had natural blue highlights in the sunshine. That similarity had done much to make them appear more as brothers and had been a very sexy distraction for Charity for years. She hoped they never cut their hair.
There were no women in Val and Ransome’s lives that she’d known of and it’d been years before she’d finally gotten an honest answer about what they did for a living. That was when the real worry had started for her. Bounty hunters might make good money but they didn’t have long life expectancies.
Justin’s hands slid down her back to cup her ass cheeks, drawing her back from the bittersweet memories. With a gentle squeeze, he murmured, “You’re thinking hard for a woman who should be dead to the world right now.”
A chuckle slipped from her. He knew her so well. “I was just…remembering.”
Wanting
.
“Yeah?” His hands slid up her back again, caressing her with work roughened fingertips.
“I’m happy the guys retired.”
“Me, too. It’ll be good to have them around more.”
Yes, but more time around them equals more torture, too.
“I hope they’re going to take a little time off.”
A chuckled rumbled in his chest. “Those two? They may take a week or two off but they’ve already talked to the dads. They’ve got some catching up to do but they sound like they want to continue the family tradition with me just like our dads did.” The three of them would make the third generation at the head of Connors Mobile Fabricating, LLC. The business had been started by Justin’s grandfather, who’d left it to his son, Justin’s father, and his daughters, who were Val’s and Ransome’s mothers. When his aunts had married, their husbands had gotten involved in the family business as well.
“They know about what you’ve been doing on the side?”
“Yeah. I showed them some of the pieces in the barn and they seemed intrigued.” He’d been hesitant about sharing his work with many people and Charity wasn’t surprised that Val and Ransome would support him in it. Justin was a master welder, who could not only create anything a person might need out of metal, he was also a metal artist on the side.
“Are they going to find places to live in Divine, do you think?”
Justin cleared his throat and ran his fingers through her hair. Noting his hesitation before answering, she lifted her head and stroked the slight widow’s peak at his forehead as she waited for his reply. “About that…I told them they were welcome to stay with us until they get settled. Is that okay?”
She laid her cheek against his chest again and nodded. “Of course it is, babe, you know that. What’s mine is theirs.” Her face turned hot as she remembered that summer night the year before, at the Republic of Texas Bike Rally. Justin was the king of fulfilling her fantasies, but he never knew how close he’d come that night.
The sun had set hours before on the adults-only campsite and rally grounds. Their friends and family members from Divine had already departed for home but Charity and Justin had stayed overnight with their friends Dale and Natalie to enjoy more of the night life.
Val and Ransome had wandered off to party and Justin had gathered her into his lap. He’d whispered that he wanted to take her to the next level under the stars, surrounded by their biker friends and her body had instantaneously flooded with pulsing, liquid heat. She’d gone topless earlier in the evening to get her upper torso painted like a bright beautiful butterfly and low-level arousal had been simmering all night as they’d walked around. Knowing Val and Ransome’s eyes had been all over her all night had only made it stronger.
Justin had assured her that no one would touch her without his permission and that wasn’t fucking likely to happen. After spreading a beach towel on the picnic table situated between the RVs, he’d laid her down and kissed and stroked her. He’d told her to keep her eyes closed as he untied the laces on her leather mini skirt. He’d gone down on her and brought her to a quick, meteoric climax and then carried her to a chair and positioned her so she straddled his hips. Still pulsing and shaking from her orgasm, she’d slid down on his rock-hard cock with a low moan. Inhibitions long shed, she’d ridden his cock with abandon until a nearby growl filtered through the pleasure hazing her mind. She’d opened her eyes and realized Val and Ransome were standing close by. The sound had come from one of them.
Her arousal blazed as she’d imagined them waiting their turn to fuck her and she’d experienced multiple orgasms. Justin had gripped her and thrust until he let out a loud growl of fulfillment, amid groans of approval and some cat calls and cheers from their friends. While they’d caught their breath the sounds of the party had continued on around her, erotic moans drifting on the air.
She’d shivered as the summer temperature had dropped to a more comfortable level. Seconds later, another pair of rough hands besides Justin’s brushed against her back as a beach towel was tucked around her, shielding her while she recovered. She’d never known if it was Val or Ransome, but the memory of that brief, caring touch had stayed with her as part of the experience. That hot night had haunted her dreams and fantasies since the summer before.
Even a year later, the memory still aroused her and she wondered again about what he’d mentioned earlier.
“Justin?” At his soft querying grunt she continued. “What did you mean when you said Saturday night at the ROT Rally would be the starting point of our next role-play scene? That rally is months away and you didn’t say anything about attending this year.” He normally allowed anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for her to anticipate a new role-playing scene, never a few months.
A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Really got you thinking, huh? I didn’t mean we’d wait until then, although if you want to go we can. I meant for you to imagine that the role-play would begin where that night ended. You remember? My little exhibitionist.”
She rubbed her knuckles lightly against his ribs, coaxing a shudder out of him as she tickled him. “You know I do, you beast. I’ll never forget.”
“Me either. It was eye opening.”
“For me, too. Did it take you by surprise to discover that the mother of your children was a total freak?”
“No. I appreciated the trust you put in me to keep you safe. It’s one thing to take your top off. It’s another to engage in public sex. The guys wouldn’t have let anything happen either, as I recall.”
Charity nodded, heat stealing into her cheeks again. “I—” A sound, like a light thump, came from near the front door. “What was that? I hope that wasn’t another bird.” She hated when birds flew at the picture window and wound up breaking their own necks.
She crawled from Justin’s arms and he reached for his pajama bottoms on the chair near the bed. “I don’t know. I’ll go—” In a quick succession, several more soft thumps hit the front of the house.
“Oh,
hell no
,” she growled as she leapt from the bed and grabbed her robe and then headed for the closet where her shotgun was kept on a shelf.
Justin stopped her from reaching for it. “Easy, babe. Let me handle this.”
“All I’m going to do is scare those little fuckers.”
Justin grunted in frustration, obviously knowing she wouldn’t hurt anyone but also knowing there was no point in trying to control her. Submissiveness wasn’t her strongest point. He sprinted on soft footfalls to the front door and threw it open.
Something slimy hit her cheek as she came abreast of him and they both growled that time. Justin looked down at the raw egg splattered on his chest and in his long black hair. He pointed a flashlight across the lawn and roared, “Get the fuck out of here!”
A group of three or four teenaged girls, judging by their long hair flapping behind them, darted from the yard and ran at top speed down the dark, secluded road.
Charity didn’t say a word but she did fire off a warning shot to deter them from returning. A high-pitched scream of fright made her grin. Part of her wanted to go after them but she was better than that.
Justin held out his hand and she handed him the gun with a knowing smile. “See? I didn’t shoot at anyone.”
“If Hank shows up, I’m letting you explain to him about who fired that shot.
Shit
. Look at the yard.”
Unsurprised, Charity noted the white streamers of toilet paper hanging from the old oak trees as they walked out in their front yard to inspect the damage. When Justin aimed the flashlight at the house, she could see the egg shells littering the grass and sidewalk and the slimy mess running down the windows and siding.
“What the fuck?” Justin growled.
Charity grabbed a wad of the toilet paper and wiped most of the egg from his bulky chest and hair, and then swiped up the egg shell mess from their entryway and sighed. “Some things never change.”
“What?”
“Jealous girls.” She turned on the water faucet and directed a stream of water at the house, hoping to wash away the egg before it dried.
“I don’t understand,” he said as he handed her the flashlight and took the hose from her.
She pointed the light for him and he sprayed the walls as she explained. “I’ve thought something was up for the last few days.”
“With who?”
“Your daughter.”
“Justine? She was fine when she left with Beau earlier.”
“You haven’t noticed the way she moons around the house lately?”
“No.”
Charity chuckled.
Men are so oblivious sometimes
. “I’d bet my new leather jacket that a boy is interested in Justine.” She turned the flashlight toward the tree nearest her and began tugging at the toilet paper. “What a waste.” They’d papered the trees heavily before starting in with the eggs.
“Explain, please.”
“I think a boy may be interested in your daughter. This was a message from one of those girls. I’d bet money on it.” Teenaged girls could be every bit as possessive as their male counterparts.
“Justine isn’t the type to go after a boy…is she?” Justin turned his gaze to hers. The dismay on his face made Charity smile.
“No, babe. She’s not. She keeps her feelings hidden, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have them.”
His reply was a soft, “Oh.”
After shutting off the faucet, he turned to help her with the mess festooned in the trees and she said, “She’s seventeen, Justin.” What she didn’t say was that they’d dodged this bullet longer than some parents. “She’s the same age we were the first time we made love.”
“La-la-la-la-la-la.
Can’t hear you,” he blurted and she snickered at the way he shuddered.
“Just sayin’.”
After a minute, he said, “She’s more beautiful every time I look at her. A boy likes her?”
“I think so.”
“Did she talk to you?”
“I’ve been working up to it,” she said, dodging a long streamer as it descended to the ground. “You have to be careful about how you approach Justine or she clams up. Sometimes she needs a push to get her to share what’s on her mind.”
Justin chuckled. “She’s like her mom in that regard…sometimes.”
Charity smacked his ass lightly, enjoying the firm bounce of his muscular butt cheek through the baggy knit pajama bottoms, and said, “Hey, I’ve gotten much better at voicing my needs over the years.”
He growled softly and replied, “And your wants, too. Although I think you still have a little work to do.”
Charity turned to him. “You know, you really are my fantasy come true, babe. I love you more than anything.”
He grabbed up piles of toilet paper and consolidated them into a big heap. “We’re both different people now and I just want to make sure you get what you want.”
Definitely different. She was older. Wiser. And her body was older, too. She was the mom of two teenagers and had been married for over twenty years. There was a reason some fantasies had to stay that way, because she doubted she’d find the kind of happiness that her sister, Grace, had with her men. Some men could share. Some could not. There was no way she’d risk the very real happiness and love she had in her marriage to Justin. He was it for her. She ignored the little voice in her head whispering that Grace and her men were proof that love multiplied. It didn’t divide.