Protecting Bethany Page 9

  “That’s it, Bethany,” he said, rubbing his finger over her anus. When she next lifted and pressed down he pushed his fingers back in, slowly. “I’ve got you,” he whispered with a smile when she jolted.

  “Okay.” She whispered and began to move once more. Finally when she got into the rhythm she smiled and leaned into him, her forehead to his, and smiled. “This feels so good.” To have both holes filled, she liked it, a lot. “I would like to do this with Brendan one day. All three of us,” she confessed in a very soft whisper, almost afraid of what he would say to her for that confession.

  “Whatever you want, Bethany,” he said softly. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to her lips and then her cheeks. “We would never deny you anything, you have to know that.” Kissing her mouth again he began to scissor his fingers in her ass every time she lifted.

  That had her smiling against his lips. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world.” She had two men that loved her, and soon she would have her life back and it would truly begin with them. “Right now I want faster,” she said with a smirk, moving a little faster on him now that she had gotten used to having his cock in her pussy and fingers in her ass.

  “Lean back just a little,” he said, pressing a hand between her shoulders. “Oh god, yeah, right there,” he groaned, his eyes rolling back in his head a little. “Faster, woman, much fucking faster.”

  Doing as he instructed she bit her lower lip at the new sensations and feelings. Leaning back more she braced her hands on his legs and rode him harder, faster and loved the feeling of his cock just rubbing against her clit, the sensations of his hand squeezing her thigh tighter. It was all coming together as it should until she screamed. Her whole body shuddered with the release of pleasure she felt, the incredible orgasm from simply being with Connor as she was.

  His curse was strangled as he bucked under her. Even his eyes rolled back in his head before he collapsed back onto the bed. “Holy. Shit,” he said, panting hard. With a little help from Connor she fell down over him, blanketing his body as he wrapped his arms around her quivering body.

  Bethany didn’t speak for several minutes. She simply couldn’t speak. When she finally did however it was with a crooked smile. “That. Was. Amazing.” Each word its own sentence because it simply punctuated how amazing that it had been. “I will move in a moment so you can go clean up and get rid of the condom, but for now. Wow.” Gasping for air she simply lay there on him, a silly smile on her face and happiness all but filling the room.

  He just gave a grunt and pressed a hand low on her spine, his thumb rubbing over her damp skin. She could hear the hard and fast rhythm of his heart and the draw of air into his lungs as he fought for breath.

  Bethany closed her eyes and yawned. Stroking her hands over Connor’s chest she soon drifted off into sleep. Even though she knew she had to get off of him so that he could go and get cleaned up and get rid of the condom, but she had dropped off into sleep without even another thought.

  Chapter Nine

  “Bethany.” A deep, familiar voice was trying to interrupt her sleep. Very rude. “Bethany, my love,” the voice said. There was a hand sliding over her belly and then up to play with the underside of her breasts. “Baby, you need to wake up. You’re about to have three dozen very hungry working men at the dinner table and there’s no dinner.”

  “Oh crap,” Bethany grumbled and moved quickly. Rolling out of the bed she rubbed her face and shook her head to clear it from the cobwebs of sleep. “I’m awake,” she said softly. Giving one more stretch she looked up. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep so long. I guess it’s good that I had the meatloaf in the oven huh?”

  “Don’t apologize,” he said and then grinned. “I woke you up with a good half hour to go before the hordes descend. I knew you’d want a few minutes to wake up fully.” Pressing a kiss to her lips he slid an arm around her waist and hugged her close. “Get dressed, babe, and head down. I’ll be right on your tail.”

  “I do love it when you are right on my tail,” she said with a grin but with one more yawn and stretch, she was gathering her clothes and getting dressed so that she could go down and get food ready for everyone.

  “It’s a very pretty tail,” he said with a grin. Throwing off the blankets he climbed off the bed and stretched his arms over his head. Groaning he let out a breath and dropped his arms. Moving to his clothing he tugged on his jeans and then pulled his shirt on over his head.

  Once she was dressed and moving she slipped her hand into Connor’s and gave it a squeeze. “Okay, let’s get our butts downstairs before Brendan or your daddy come looking for us. Brendan I wouldn’t mind but your daddy, yeah let’s get down there before he gives us that look. You know the one I’m talking about.”

  “Oh, you must mean the one that makes your whole body clench,” he said. They stepped out of the bedroom and moved toward the stairs. “The one where you rack your brain hoping to figure out what you may have done. Or maybe you’re referring to the one that has your flight instinct kicking in.”

  “Yep and yep. Both of them. I swear that man has those looks perfected at this time,” she said with a grin. “But I love that man like crazy.” She adored Daniel Graymont and always had.

  “As he loves you,” Connor said with a grin. When they reached the kitchen he let her loose to do her thing. “You’ve always been family to him, darling. He adores you and that’s a good thing. You already know he’s not going to have a fit when we have you otherwise occupied from time to time.”

  “This is a very good thing,” Bethany said with a smile. She sobered however and added. “As much as I hate it, I won’t be able to remain here forever. I have to take the Mason-Dixon back from that bastard that calls himself my father. I will have to run it as my granddaddy would have wanted.” Her grandfather had been a very good man, one of the best.

  “And as you should do,” he said quietly. He walked closer to her and took one of her hands in his. “Doesn’t negate the fact that, until such a day comes, we have a hell of a lot of leeway with the old man. Especially since we’re under his roof.”

  That had her smiling and she nodded. “That is a very good point. Thank you for that reminder.” She gave his hand a squeeze and then pulled back. “Now then, I have to get food ready and I’m sure you have stuff to do out in the barn. Now shoo, get out of here.”

  “Nope, nothing.” He grinned. Moving to the fridge he pulled the door open and reached in. Turning she saw he had a beer in hand as he moved to settle on the counter out of the way. “I was told to come in here, stay in here and to not show my face again.”

  “Oh lord, what did you do?” she asked as she prepared the meal for the family and the farm hands. Their conversation was easy and smooth. It was nice to be able to have him there with her, having someone there to share the day with.

  “Nothing,” he said, sounding offended. “Why would you assume I did anything? Brendan just told me to get my ass inside and if he saw me again before dinner than he’d pound on me and I wouldn’t like the outcome. And, while I think I could take big brother, he’s a lot meaner than you’d think when you see him in one of his fancy suits.”

  That had her grinning and she snorted. “You had to have done something. That’s okay though, I honestly don’t mind. I’m very happy to have you inside with me.” She pointed and added, “Especially since I can put you to work. Grab the cutting board. I need you to start to peel potatoes for me and cut them in cubes so I can whip up some mashed potatoes.” She put the water on the stovetop for him.

  Groaning he slid off the counter and set his bottle aside. “Fine, but know I protest this treatment. It’s not enough that I have to deal with the ranch but now you’re making me peel potatoes too.” He let out another groan. But he didn’t argue any more, he set to peeling the potatoes and chopping them up into cubes.

  * * * *

  After dinner the boys took her outside to sit on the swing. A couple of the hands had “volunteered” for dish duty. She
wasn’t sure but she was pretty sure there had been some blackmail involved to get them to do it. Not that it really mattered, and her men would deny it, but she was curious nonetheless.

  Connor had a beer in hand and Brendan a glass of juice. Shifting, Brendan pulled a large envelope, folded in half, out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “Dad got this from your lawyer while he was in town today. He was going to give it to you early but couldn’t find you so he asked I give it to you.” She caught the smirk on his face before he hid it by taking a drink of juice.

  Bethany blushed, she was sure she knew just why Daniel hadn’t been able to find her. Taking the paperwork from Brendan she looked down at it and began to grin. “Thank God he was able to ensure that farce of a marriage was dissolved.” Well not really dissolved so much as charges filed against the man who had married her as well as her father. “So the Sheriff is going to go and arrest them today?” She hoped so.

  “First thing in the morning,” he told her. “They have a couple of deputies close to each of them to keep an eye on things. And the rest of the papers will be ready to ensure it’s all on the up and up, legal as can be. The sheriff wanted to know if you would like to be there for the arrests. Pops said he’d pass the message along and let you decide. Everything happens at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.”

  “What do you think?” She wanted to be there, but she didn’t want to deter from the sheriff and his duty. “Do you think that it would be okay for me to be there? I want to see those bastards in cuffs. I want to see the looks on their faces when they see that I am not only doing well but I am also getting those sons of bitches out of my life.”

  Brendan gave a shrug and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I say we go. Not to see them arrested maybe, that might be a bit much with all the cops that will be there. But we should go to the jailhouse and watch them being brought in for booking. I think that would be all right and we’d be out of the way.”

  “Then we will do just that. I don’t want to do anything that will hinder them being cuffed and stuffed into the back of a car. I also want to press charges against several of the hands on the ranch, ones that helped in the beatings.”

  Brendan’s arm tightened around her shoulders and she could see Connor fisting his hand before spreading the fingers wide and pressing down on his thigh. “Yes,” Brendan said, his voice gruff. “We’ll damn well be making sure those charges are in the system before we leave the sheriff’s office,” he said.

  “Good,” she said simply. “And when we take my grandfather’s ranch back we will have to do a full shakedown of the hands. Some are worth keeping but a few of the newer ones aren’t worth the air that it would take to say their name.”

  “You tell us who you want to keep and we’ll ensure the others are gone, for good,” Connor told her. He bumped her thigh lightly with his knuckles. “Did you tell big brother your plans for when it’s all back in your name?” he asked her.

  “Nope. Well at least not yet.” She shrugged and pushed the swing a little more. “I figure that we will all have a seat together and we will discuss our future together. I’m sure that he will like it a great deal because the Mason-Dixon is closer to his practice.” Which would make his commuting to the big city even better. “I just know that I want both of you there with me.”

  Brendan shot her a look and then looked to Connor, then her, then his brother, then her. “I’m obviously missing pieces somewhere here. Care to share with me, sweetheart?” he asked with a smile. “Sounds like you’ve been giving everything a bit of thought and obviously discussed some of it with the runt, so spill already.”

  “I have been giving everything thoughts,” Bethany said with a grin. “When I take back my grandfather’s ranch I will need to live there, of course. I want both you and Connor with me. I know that keeping your practice is important to you so with it being nearly twenty miles closer to the big city it should be close enough that you would be able to come home every night, right?”

  He tipped his head slightly and then nodded slowly. “That makes sense,” he said softly. “And yes, with it being that little bit closer I can actually travel and to and from each night. Unless I have an early morning court appearance in which case I’d have to stay in town since, even though I was raised on a ranch, I hate being up at four in the morning. As I always have to do some last-minute prep, that would be easiest for us all I think. It would be rare, but it would happen on occasion,” he said.

  “I like it.” That meant that the bulk of his time he would be able to be with them. She liked that a great deal. “You make me happy, both of you and it would make me even happier to know that I had both of you home with me each and every single night.”

  “I’ll be there,” Connor said. “Oh wait, you don’t have to bug me about that since mine will be the ass that’s dead on the floor each night.”

  Brendan chuckled and leaned forward to shoot him a look. “She conned you into taking the foreman gig didn’t she?” he asked.

  “I don’t think ‘conned’ is the right term,” Connor said.

  “Uh-huh, you are such a sucker for a pretty little thing,” he said. Then he shot her a wink and grinned. He was teasing his brother.

  Bethany winked at Connor. “Yeah. All that I had to do was ask him and he accepted. Thank Heavens. I’m very happy that he took it. Besides, with being the boss that means that he gets to take time off when he wants to, right?”

  “That is very true,” Brendan agreed. “I have to ask though. Did you ask him to take the position while you were naked?” he asked with a grin. “’Cause if you did, he does have grounds to appeal. Unusual and much too sexy means of persuasion could overturn the verdict you realize.”

  “Good point.” Bethany grinned at Connor. “Since we are dressed I assume that it’s only fair enough to ask you, will you take the foreman position with my ranch?” She wanted to know. “I would very much like for you to take that position so that I can from time to time attack you in your office,” she teased.

  “I get an office?” Connor asked, looking stunned. “Well hell, you didn’t mention that before. Fuck yeah I’ll take the gig. Brendan, I get an office man!”

  Brendan was laughing, a hand pressed to his gut as he shook his head. “Damn, woman, you shouldn’t have told him about the office until later. What if it’s a broom closet, bro?”

  “I don’t care, I get an office!” Connor grinned. Then he frowned and leaned into her. “It’s not a broom closet is it?” he asked softly.

  “No, Connor, it’s not a broom closet.” Bethany was laughing now too. “It’s a little larger than your dad’s office,” she admitted to him. “But I think you will need to strip everything out of it and redo it so that it’s all your taste.”

  “I don’t even want to know,” he said, wrinkling his nose up and shaking his head. Sighing, he leaned back and lifted her hand onto his, palm to palm. “I get the feeling you may not be talking about just the office, darling. Are we going to have to gut the entire house to ensure we can all live there happily?”

  “No, not the whole house but you will definitely want to redo your office and I will want to redo the living room. I’m sure our bedroom too but aside from that the sperm donor largely left the house alone. He was too busy trying to see how he could get around grandfather’s will so that he could sell the place off to the oil and minerals companies that have been all but drooling over the Mason-Dixon.”

  “Thankfully your grandfather was a very smart and wise man,” Brendan said. “I’ve heard rumors about that will and it’s so ironclad that, unless you are the intended heir, you’re out of the loop entirely. One of the lawyers that helped him write it up was one of my guest lecturers back in university. I had a bunch of questions about wills since Dad had mentioned wanting to update his.”

  “He did?” Connor asked, sounding surprised.

  “At the time, it was more an information thing than anything. He’ll be updating it soon enough though, especially wi
th Patty marrying and with the baby on the way. Anyway, the point of all this is, if you’re not written into the will, there is not a force in heaven or on Earth that can get that will torn apart. It is so ironclad that unless you were the one writing it, it would take several months to just clue into all the ins and outs.”

  “Exactly,” Bethany said with a grin. “But you see I didn’t know this at the time. I had been forced into that sham of a marriage and believed it. For far too long I believed it. And all I can say is thank god for my grandfather’s attorneys. They found what was happening and got me out and safe. If not for them.” She didn’t think she would be alive truth be told.

  “Shh,” he said softly. Cupping her head he pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re here, you’re safe and you are never going to have to deal with them again. At least not without both of us there to help,” he said.

  “I still think we should just take them out and shoot them,” Connor said. “Dad’s on my side of this, I should mention.”

  Brendan muttered something under his breath. “We are not shooting them. It’s illegal and, honestly, I will let you both rot in jail if I find out you go gunning for them.”

  “Bethany wouldn’t let you leave me there, right?” Connor smiled at her and batted his lashes.

  Bethany snickered and grinned. “I don’t know. Brendan is right and it is illegal. I would say that if you were caught I would maybe leave you there for like five minutes but truthfully.” She shrugged and looked to Brendan. “If I had my way I would shoot them myself. Sorry honey but you are the one who’s going to have to be the adult one and keep us all out of jail. Your daddy and his checkers buddies too.”

  “If you actually believe they play checkers.” Brendan shook his head. Hugging her closer he rested his head to hers. “I will keep you all out of jail, if I can, but no shooting anyone. Please, for me,” he said, squeezing her closer.