Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion (2 page)

* * * *

After stopping for a cold drink at the old-fashioned drugstore across the street from the library, Grace sat in the driver seat of her blue Escalade, scrolling through the contacts on her phone. She looked at Charity with what she felt sure were completely guiltless eyes. Charity giggle-snorted and tickled Rose Marie after buckling her into her car seat and said, “It’s like an addiction with you, isn’t it?”

Grace smiled widely and shrugged. “I’ve never seen two people who were more right for each other, and did you see? Fate is
trying
to bring them together!” She gestured at Seth’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the other end of the block as he placed his library books in the saddle bags and climbed on. She knew a beautiful brunette would fit perfectly on the back of that bike. “I’m just helping out the universe by bringing those two within range of each other, that’s all. We wouldn’t want some ‘skank ho’ to claim him, now would we?”

“No, we can’t have that. Now let’s get you and your big boobs home.” Charity climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door as Grace started the Escalade.

“Bi boos!”
Rose Marie crowed from the backseat of the Escalade. Grace gave Charity the stink eye as Charity snorted with laughter and reached back to Rose Marie to give her a baby high-five.

Grace wrinkled up her nose and muttered, “I think you’ve been spending too much time at my house lately.”

“You adore me and you have a pool. The attraction is obvious.”

“You’re just lucky she already says ‘Da-da.’ If ‘big boobs!’ was the first thing that Jack, Ethan, or Adam ever heard her say, they’d know who taught it to her.”

Rose Marie cackled.
“Bi boos!”

Grace added, “And they’re
not
big boobs. They’re just right, according to the men in my life.”

Charity laughed and grabbed her own boobs. “They’re chingo chee-chees! Enormous hooters!”

“Chee-chees!”
crowed the baby.

Grace was laughing so hard she had tears and pressed the heel of both palms to her breasts as the discussion inspired a let-down reflex. “Will you
stop
! They’re sensitive to discussion. And Ethan said just this morning that they were the most perfect breasts he’d ever had the pleasure of—”

Charity stuck her fingers to her ears. “Lalalalalalalalah! I can’t hear you!”

“Lalalalalalalah!”
squawked the pint-size parrot in the backseat.

Grace did her best to glower at Charity as she laughed. “You’re a bad influence.”

“I can’t help it. They’ve gotten so big that I can hardly talk to you without staring at them. They’re distracting.”

“Oh, hush. Yours were just as enormous with Beau and Justine and I never teased you.” She finally found Seth’s cell phone number and sighed with relief when she heard a faint yawn from the car seat behind them. “Here he is.”

“You’re just going to get voice mail.”

“That’s okay.” The recording of Seth’s rugged, soft-spoken voice played, asking her to leave a message. “Hi, Seth, this is Grace Warner. I just wanted to invite you to our informal Fourth of July family reunion tomorrow. Everyone is going to be there. Rosemary Garner has the flatbed trailer and tents set up in front of Cheaver’s, so we’ll have shady seats for the parade. We’re barbequing at the ranch for lunch and then we’ll hang out, ride horses, play in the pool, or whatever. At nightfall, we’re all heading out to Bowie Lake for the fireworks. I hope you can make it. Call me if you have any questions. Bye.”

“There’s no way he’ll be able to turn down that winsome invitation.”

“I can’t help it if I’m charming and sweet. It offsets
your
natural gifts.”

“Which one? Snarkiness or bitchiness?”

“I was gonna say wit and sarcasm, but whatever.” Grace looked back at Rose Marie, who had nodded off. “Thank goodness she’s conked out. I’d have a lot of explaining to do if she came home having learned how to say ‘bitch.’” She ended with a whisper on the last word.

“I think it’s a given with the guys that whatever foul language she picks up came from me, so you should be safe. Just wait until she’s sixteen and her auntie takes her shopping for her first vibrator.”

* * * *

Seth Carter maneuvered the Harley around the block and contemplated going back inside to ask that beautiful librarian if she’d like to go for a ride after work. Jayne had seemed pretty straitlaced, and she’d probably be fearful of his bike, as fragile as she looked.

The memory of the vulnerable look in her eyes as he’d helped her up from the floor swam in his mind. The recollection of her pure, clean scent awakened his cock as he recalled the second time their paths collided. At the checkout counter, her accidental touch on his hand had been like a butterfly’s wings. Her pretty eyes were blue and green with a golden-brown ring blending the two colors together. He’d wanted to take his time gazing at them but realized his scrutiny made her self-conscious.

His body had responded to the rosy flush in her cheeks with a rush of heat a little farther south. He’d been captivated by the grace of her manicured hands as she did her job. She had beautiful ivory skin, and the artist in him saw it as a perfect, pristine canvas, but even unadorned he’d thought she was stunning. In the overhead lights, her long brown hair had shimmered, and he’d be willing to bet that in the sun the red in her hair was glorious. Maybe when he returned the books he’d test the waters.

He rode up Main Street to the turnoff for his residential neighborhood and noticed that people were already setting up chairs and canopy shades along the street for tomorrow morning’s parade. He’d probably be able to hear the high school marching band play all the way from the house, as well as the blasting of stereos from the Lowriders Car Club and the other bands. He’d been a kid the last time he’d gone to a parade and didn’t particularly have the desire to fight the crowds to see another one. If the weather cooperated, his plan involved getting on his Harley and seeing how far he got by midday.

Rolling into his drive, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. After parking the bike next to his truck in the garage, he checked the phone and dialed into his voice mail. He leaned against the bed of the truck as he listened to Grace’s message. Parade. Barbeque. Bowie Lake.

Grace and Rachel had invited him to events at the Divine Creek Ranch before, but he’d never made it out to one. Lily Cook and her men, Clay and Del, had recently told him about a get-together they’d enjoyed at the Ranch earlier in the spring. Besides Lily’s wedding, he hadn’t done much in the way of socializing, and even so, this wasn’t the sort of partying he’d been accustomed to. Life, lately, revolved around his busy tattoo studio, Divine Ink. Dialing Grace’s number, Seth decided he’d go for part of the day, and if it wasn’t his thing then he’d still take a ride up into the Hill Country.

The line connected, and he smiled when he heard Grace’s enthusiastic greeting. “So, you’re coming, right? You know you’ll have a great time. And bring your bike because the ride out to Bowie Lake will be perfect at sunset.”

How could he say no in the face of such enthusiasm? Seth smiled as he leaned his elbows against the truck bed. “It sounds like fun, Grace. You can count on me.”

“Awesome! We’ll save a seat for you. You’ll find us right in front of Cheaver’s Western Store on Main. And could you bring an extra helmet in case anyone needs a ride to the ranch?”

“Sure.”

Well, it looked like he was going to a small-town Independence Day parade after all.

July 4
^th
, at the Cook Ranch…

Lily Cook stretched sleepily and came to full awareness in a rush when her apparently eager cunt easily accepted the cock that thrust inside her from behind.

“Oh! Warn a girl ahead of time,” she murmured shakily as Clay’s and Del’s equally naked, masculine bodies crowded on either side of her. She bit her lip and squeezed her pussy muscles, causing Del to groan as he pulled out and thrust back in.

Her husband Clay kissed her and then scooted downward in the bed so that he could suck at her nipples while she lay on her side, tilted slightly over him.

“Good morning,” he murmured as he stroked her rib cage and her abdomen.

“Good mornin’, Lily Bell,” Del grated out as he increased his strokes. His lips left a heated trail on her back and shoulders, and she moaned in pleasure when he picked up the pace. Clay toyed with her clit while he sucked on her peaked nipples, teasing first one then the other. As they played with and tormented her, she came fully awake, thrusting back against Del as his cock filled her pussy over and over, the excitement building in her nerve endings to a frenzied pitch.

Del pushed her topmost thigh over Clay’s hip, and the tension in her body coiled tighter. Clay released Lily’s right nipple with a wet pop and said, “My turn soon, Lily.” With a chuckle, he went back to work, laying more wet kisses up her chest to her throat before kissing her hungrily on the lips.

Her body felt all keyed up, ready to implode, and Lily wondered how long they’d been playing with her that she was as wet and aroused as she was. Then she remembered the sexy dream she’d been having before they woke her. The thought dissolved as the early flickerings of an orgasm bloomed inside her. Del seemed to understand and held her hips as he thrust, rubbing that spot inside her that drove her wild. Lily held on tight to Clay’s shoulders and buried her face against his neck as the orgasm hit hard. Her body turned to liquid fire and she moaned, bucking her hips back against Del. He thrust firmly a couple more times and groaned with a deep, animalistic sound. “Oh, fuck me.”

Panting to catch her breath, Lily had only a short reprieve before Del gently pulled from her and she found herself looking into Clay’s lusty green-gold eyes. He grinned at her sexily as he lay back. With his powerful arms, he pulled her still-tingling body astride him and thrust home in one stroke.

“Oh, yeah, baby. That’s what I needed. Let’s make some early-mornin’ fireworks.” She felt the hunger for him stir inside her.

Bracing herself on his shoulders, Lily lifted up and rolled her hips to seat him fully inside of her. “Is this what you need?” she asked as she sat up. She slid her hands up her hips, over the phoenix tattoo that decorated her lower abdomen and swirled with colorful feathers down her thigh. Knowing it drove them wild, Lily continued the upward sweep of her hands until she cupped her breasts and tweaked her nipples between her fingers.

Del lay down on her pillow and watched appreciatively then returned his gaze to where her body was joined to Clay’s. “That’s exactly what we needed. Ride him, Lily.”

Clay’s hands joined hers on her breasts, and she moved her hands so they closed over his, gripping her breasts more firmly. Clay thrust and her thighs tightened and the tension began to coil inside her again. “That’s right, baby, take what you need.”

Lily closed her eyes and thought back to the night before, when they’d made love to her together. Clay had been in the back and Del in the front, sliding in and out of her until she didn’t know where she ended and they began.

A warm hand slid around her hip bone. She opened her eyes and saw Del trailing his hand over the phoenix’s tail to the cleft of her ass. He didn’t say anything, but she knew that he was thinking about the same thing. Her muscles became jerky and tense as his fingertips slid down her crack to her back opening. He pressed gently, massaging the sensitive ring of muscle there. She bit her lip and gasped when all the tension unfurled in a giant snap and her orgasm ripped through her like a wildfire.

Clay gripped her hips tightly, and she held on to him as he thrust upwards with deep, fast strokes and her head fell forward, draping her long hair across his chest. She rolled her hips with him, responding to his need for release and the continued pressure of Del’s fingertips at her ass.

Clay’s face was ruddy with passion as his jaw dropped and he came with a deep groan. “Baby,” was the only thing he said as the tension left them both.

Lily curled up on his chest with her head beneath his chin and smiled at Del as he stroked her perspiration-dampened back. The muscles in his biceps flexed, making his phoenix undulate slightly as he caressed the colorful feathers that now decorated her left thigh. She lifted her head and leaned over to kiss Del and then kissed the matching mirror image of his tattoo on Clay’s right shoulder.

Clay stroked her ass as his cock still pulsed inside her and whispered, “Happy Independence Day, baby.”

Lily rested her head on Clay’s chest and sighed happily. “I’m looking forward to the parade this morning. It’s been more years than I care to count since the last time I was in Divine for a parade.”

Del stretched, pleasing her with the sight of his muscular, nude physique. He caught her look, and he growled pleasurably. “Was the last one when we marched with the Tigers when we won the Boys and Girls City Championship in Little League?”

Lily giggled as she remembered riding her bike in that parade with Clay and Del the year they’d all played on the same team together. It had been hotter than hell, but all she remembered was how proud she’d been and how much fun they’d had at the Cook family barbeque afterward.

Now here she was, married to her two best friends as of the month before. It had been hot in Aruba, and she hadn’t noticed that heat either, but it had been for a totally different reason.

She sat up and smiled down at Clay as she gently squeezed the shaft still lodged inside her cunt. Clay groaned softly as he looked up at her with shuttered bedroom eyes.

“You better watch it, unless you want round three, baby. We’ll be late for the parade.”

Del sat up in the bed and said, “Speaking of the parade, Grace called while the two of you were in the shower last night and said that we’re supposed to meet them out in front of Cheaver’s. Rosemary Garner set up a big flatbed trailer and tents for shade and asked if we would just bring chairs. Grace mentioned that she talked Seth into coming.”

“She
did
?” Lily replied enthusiastically. “It’s about time.”

Seth was a loner, and Lily had been trying to get him involved with their group since he’d done their tattoos but had been unsuccessful almost every time. The exception had been the wedding. He’d come to that when she’d married Clay and had the private bonding ceremony with Del right afterward, but Seth hadn’t stayed for the reception. The day had been a happy haze for her, but she’d been slightly disappointed when he’d said his good-byes and left before the music had even started.

Clay stretched as Lily gently disengaged from him and sat on the edge of the bed. “Grace must’ve really sweet-talked him because today is a perfect day for taking a ride on his Harley.”

Del chuckled and rolled his eyes. “She’s probably trying to matchmake.”

Lily jumped when Clay goosed her ass as she stood and said, “Grace is a romantic. You can’t fault her for wanting to see people happy. Seth is one of the good guys. He deserves his happily ever after.”

Clay’s expression grew thoughtful. “Speaking of happily-ever-afters, remember Beck O’Malley? The guy who bartered to do your car repairs for an engagement ring.”

“Of course. His girlfriend works at Madeleine’s as a nail tech. Did he ever get around to proposing? I nearly gave the secret away when I ran into him and Chloe at Batson’s Grocers a couple of months ago.” Chloe had always struck Lily as a sweet-tempered, caring person, and she’d thought with Beck’s introverted nature that they’d be a good fit.

Clay shook his head sadly. “He asked her and she turned him down. He said she seemed about as torn up over turning him down as he felt for being turned down.”

“Do you think he’d like to come to the parade? He could sit with us.” Lily felt sad for Beck, thinking of him home alone, tending his honey bees. He was another loner.

“Probably not. The hurt seemed pretty fresh. Sometimes a guy just needs time. Maybe we’ll invite him out to supper sometime soon.”

Del kissed her and said, “Look at it this way. They’re both just that much closer to finding the people they were meant to be with.”

Lily sighed and giggled. “You’re such a romantic, Del. I hope Beck finds the perfect woman for him some day.”

“Like we did?” Clay asked as he stroked her ass cheek.

Lily giggled and jumped when he goosed her. “You’re both just trying to get laid again.” She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. “Now who’s joining me? I need my back scrubbed.”

A burst of giggles escaped her when they both stalked her into the steamy shower.