Crushed Velvet (6 page)

SEVEN

A Ripper Female

Cabin on the Flat River, Flatonia Texas

“Kandy…”

The world was still spinning around her and Kanda was thinking what a nice funeral it would be.
All my family there and ma cussin’ up a storm about how bullheaded I always was.

“Hello…?” A whisper sounded in her ear.

Gasping, she opened her eyes and found she was lying on the bed in the river cabin. Raising her befuddled gaze, she saw Wade sitting above her.

“Are you okay?”

Kanda swallowed heavily.

“Do you know what happened?” he asked.

She shook her head.

He leaned in real close as a sly smile spread along his yummy lips. “You fainted…for real.”

Her eyes widened.

He nodded his head at her.

“No!”

He kept nodding. “Oh yes, just like a city woman!”

Kanda sat up.

Wade chuckled and held her arms. “It’s my fault. I should’ve fed you before I introduced you to combustibles.”

Kanda sat stunned, then his joke dawned on her. Heat flushed her cheeks as she remembered it all.

He stood up. “Now, you just stay there and I will get you some dinner.”

She looked around. “Where’s—?”

“He left.” Wade came back with a plate. “He said he could see that now wasn’t the time for family reunions.”

“Oh! I’m so embarrassed!” She placed her hands over her face.

“Why?”

Kanda let her hands drop away and stared at him like he was nuts.

He placed a napkin in her lap and then the plate. His eyes were like twinkling blue stars, full of mirth.

“Because—I…”

Wade sat beside her, holding a fork up to her lips.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m feeding you.”

“I can feed my—”

Wade popped the food into her mouth.

She chewed and wondered what it was.

“It’s dim sim.” He answered her unspoken question. “Kind of like a Chinese dumpling. My dad’s best dish.”

She swallowed and yanked the fork from his fingers.

“Oh, don’t like being fed?”

Kanda knew her face was redder than a bouquet of turnips. She took the fork and put another bite into her mouth. After the spectacle she’d made of herself in front of his father, she just felt small.
A feat in and of itself.
“Well, I’m sure he thinks I’m some kind of boot tramp or something now.” She forked another bite and chewed.

“A boot…” Wade tilted his head.

Kanda chewed like she was a horse munching on hay and despite how good the dim—or whatever it was, tasted. Anything would taste like hay right now. Her fury at herself grew as she stabbed at the plate and hefted in a whole dumpling. She had to slow down or choke and she sat for a minute to get the square of wrapped meat down before answering. “A boot tramp, a rollup whore, you know!”

Wade blinked his eyes at her.

“You know, like the trail sluts, hopping from one rollup blanket to another?” She was chewing furiously now.

“Why would he think that?”

“There I am—in the river, naked as the day I was born—you feeling me up and me lapping it up?” Kanda was huffing now. “Then I pass out and you bring me in, like a drunken whiskey hussy on a Saturday night!”

Wade looked stunned and then he tipped his head back and laughed.

Kanda gasped. Nothing about this was funny.

He kept laughing.

“Oooh! How can you laugh?”

Wade swiped the tear from his eye. “You are really bonzer!” He started to laugh again.

“Now you’re calling me names, right?” She felt like punching a wall.

“No!” He kept chuckling. “Believe me, it’s a compliment.”

Stabbing at another dumpling, she took a bite.

“He did notice the ropes on the bedpost though.”

Kanda gasped and almost choked on the dim.

Reaching around, he patted her on the back. “Don’t worry. He thought I used them on you!” He shook his head. “I knew better than to tell him the truth! A ripper female ropin’ and—?” He looked into her startled eyes. “—branding me?” He handed her a glass of milk. “He’d never let me live that one down. Now, swallow this down.”

Remaining silent, she took it and gulped it.
Great! More embarrassment; his dad must think I’m a slut cake for sure!
She raised her gaze up. “Ripper female?”

Pausing, Wade gazed into her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what you are.”

Kanda wondered several times about their use of
female
and whatever ripper meant. It sure couldn’t be a good thing; it probably translated to Slut Cake, all right, considering her immoral behavior since she’d gotten here.

“Where I’m from, when we say
female
like that? It means a hot babe.” He grinned. “And ripper means super hot.”

At his astonishing explanation her eyes widened
. He believes I’m a hot babe?
Her stomach filled with butterflies.
Oh! I never had that sensation before!

“Kandy?”

Trying to settle her case of nerves, she set the glass down and looked at him.

“You were a virgin this morning, remember?”

“So? He doesn’t know that!”

“Why would you care what he thought?”

“Because…I mean—he’s your father.”

Wade shook his head. “It doesn’t matter who he is.”

“Yes, it does!”

Shaking his head, Wade took her plate and glass, setting them on the bedside table. “Well, you sure didn’t care when you
roped
me.”

Her cheeks flamed again. “You are never gonna let me forget that, are you?”

Laughing, he shook his head. “Probably not,” he teased. “Never happened to me before, you know?”

Still feeling embarrassed about it all, she sighed.

“I mean, there’ve been women who made a play or two for me. Then, there were a few that wanted more than I could give and they became pretty resourceful.” He gazed into her eyes. “But, I have never been pursued in such a truly wicked way before.”

Again, her shame came to the fore. “I wanna blame you.”

His eyes widened. “Me?”

Nodding, she looked down at her hands. “It’s all your fault.”

He was chuckling again. “I do admit I was on my way to seducing you, all right. Being tied up was a first for me and spanking a woman was another first, too.”

Kanda tried hard to ignore the spanking part. If anyone ever knew about that? She would be drummed out of the cattle association for sure. She’d never be able to look her crew in the eye neither! She shivered at the thought and continued with her defense. “I mean, it wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t look so—if you weren’t so—?” Tongue-tied again, she gave up and sat very still.

Wade reached out and pulled her to his chest. “No one but you and I will ever know, okay? I’m just funning you. Besides, there’s always the
favor.
”

Kanda took in his scent and his chest was so warm, even through his T-shirt. This man was too much for her.
Too much man?
Another something she never believed she would ever be thinking. “Favor?”

He caressed her back with a gentle stroking. “Yeah. You said you would owe me a big favor, remember?”

Kanda stiffened up and pulled away. “What is it with this favor business anyway?”

He grinned. “Don’t worry, I haven’t thought of anything…yet.”

At that smile of his, Kanda was flustered again.

“Do you want to go home?”

She hadn’t even thought about it, not with all the fires he’d been setting, and all that was Wade filling her head. She shrugged. “Well, despite what I always believed, the ranch can go on while I’m not there.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

At the voice from the door, Kanda almost jumped clean off the bed.

Wade turned his head and looked over. He then let out a dismal sounding groan.

Kanda knew she’d paled by a few shades of white. “Ma?”

“What in damnation is going on here?” Marge Kincade put her hands on her hips and glared at the both of them.

EIGHT

GI Cowboy

Plush Stud Ranch

Bren stretched her limbs out. Her body was tender all over. This must be what it means to be loved hard.
Rode hard?
She smiled and her eyes popped open. Sitting up, she looked around the room.

She wondered where her sweet cowboy went. A feeling of panic nudged its way in.
Oh, he can’t be wandering around in this house! Why, he would see—well, no tellin’ what!
She jumped off the bed and looked for her robe.

Visions crashed through her mind. Such unmentionable things. From ladies groping him to Daisy sneaking him onto the stage
. Oh!
She could just see the cat callin’ and the howling for him to take it off! Her movements became more rushed.
Why didn’t I warn him? Well, what was I supposed to say? Watch out for all the man meat grabbin’ hussies?

The bedroom door opened just as she tied her rope sash.

Trevor stood for a second in the doorway and then slammed it behind him.

Bren took a step forward.

“Wait!” he whispered.

At the look on his face, Bren bit at her lip.

“I finally get it. This isn’t a regular beef ranch.”

Sighing, Bren waited for the backlash. Her mama was a Madame for a stud ranch…this stunning fact had to eventually hit the shit fan.

“Firstly, I went to find some dinner. I was gonna surprise you.”

That was so sweet!
She then shook her head, clearing the romantic notion from her mind, and waited for the shitstorm.

“Next thing I know, a swarm of women stampeded me!” He shook his head and marched over to the closet door. “They…” He seemed to wince at the thought. “Felt me up!”

Raising her hands to her mouth, she knew her worst fears had come true. “I’m—?”

Trev put his hand up to silence her. “Then, when I finally got their paws off me, they began offering me money!” He jerked the closet door open, the door almost cracking its wood as it hit the wall.

“Trev—”

“No!” He grabbed a pair of jeans and a blouse from the hangers. “We’re leaving!” He walked over and threw the outfit onto the bed, then turned to fish through the dresser drawers.

Bren was truly worried now. Did he think all of this with her was a mistake now? Her being the daughter of a…

Stalking back, he added a lacey bra and underwear to the clothes pile. He swiftly grabbed her robe sash and untied it. Next, he peeled it away from her shoulders. “We are going to hightail it outta here!” He flung the robe aside and paused.

Her eyes had filled up with tears
. How can I explain my way out of this one? I can’t. My mama does what she does and that’s all I could say about that.

Trev stared at her face. “What’s the matter?’

Her tears welled up bad now. “I’m sorry.”

Trevor smiled for the first time since he came into the room. “It’s not your doin’.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “But—?”

“No buts. I just don’t think this is a good place for—you.” As he stroked her arms and gazed down at her bare body, the look in his eyes became heated. “There are men paradin’ nude down there! All of them are showing off their—dills, for fucks sake!” He looked into her eyes. “I don’t want anyone paradin’ their
stock
in front of you…except me. There’s only one pickle in the jar that’s meant for you.”

She sniffled. “Pickle?” She chuckled over his funny euphemisms. “They haven’t got a thing on you, cowboy! Why you’re the kosher of them all!”

He ignored her joke as he shook his head in further disgust, set her down and positioned her undies over her ankles.

Relief flooded through her as he now seemed to be handling the stud factor pretty good, despite his quaint way of looking at the whole thing. “What the heck are you doing?”

Tugging the panties up while standing her upright, he yanked them over her plump butt cheeks. “Unfortunately, I’m puttin’ undergarments on my woman, instead of rippin’ them off.” He grabbed the bra. Raising it up, he glared at it like it was some kind of confusing contraption. “I’m used to taking these off, not the other way around.”

Bren took the lacey apparatus from him. “I can do it!”

Trev took it back. “Nope, I have my little fancies and one shall be to undress you and dress you. I gotta learn this puttin’ on thing sometime or another.” He stroked her cheek with his warm fingertips. “Let’s just say you are kinda’ like my Plush doll.”

“What?”

He stood her up as a sly smile touched his lips. “My very own Plush girl, mine to play house with. I’ll dress you, undress you, feed you M&M’s and…” He flipped her around and caressed her bare nipples while standing behind her. “Take care of all your needs.”

His warm words were spoken to her cheek and she sucked in a deep breath as her body blazed from his touch.

“I mean no disrespect like you were a rubber doll or something.” He now sounded unsure in her ear. “I really do mean it in a good way, ya know?”

Bren giggled. “Disrespect?” She reached back and rubbed him through his hard jeans. “I always wanted a cowboy Ken to
play
with too.”

He chuckled in her ear. “I sure wish we could play house right now.”

Pausing, she was so turned on she felt wet and needy again. “Maybe we could—?”

Sighing, he reached around her and grabbed up her jeans. “I’m tempted by it. Hell, I’m always tempted by you and with my jeans getting’ too tight again, you’ll know I mean it. But, I gotta get out of here!” He gently pushed her down on the bed and scooped the jeans up and over her feet.

Bren gulped while seeing the evidence for herself as his jeans were looking pretty tight right about now. She allowed him to raise her up and tug the snug jeans on. Good thing Daisy had some clothes her size brought in. It woulda’ been embarrassing if these were skinny jeans.

He stood her up and zipped her pants. Then, his distracted gaze rested on her plump boobs. Bare and inviting as her nipples stood rosy and erect. He let out a growl, leaned forward and took her nipple in his mouth.

Bren’s body melted as she leaned back and let him feast.

He switched to the other nipple and sucked on her.

Her panting grew and her hands fell slack as he held her.

He let go and gazed up at her. “I just wanted a taste.” His eyes blazed with heat.

Her throat had swelled up again as her legs shook beneath her.

“Dammit!” he swore, and unzipped her jeans.

Bren was startled as he lay her back and tugged them back off. “What the—?”

“I’m a goner!” He finished the jean tugging and threw them onto the floor. “Licked! Too far gone to even have my good sense anymore.” He then grabbed her panties in a tight fist.

Her body shook all over and she thought she might not be able to catch her breath.

Trev gave her a sly smile. “They should have a warning on the package.”

Her heart was pounding away as she gazed up at her beautiful man.

“Playing with this doll can be highly addictive.”

Her laughter bubbled up as he tore her new panties away.

“I can tell right now that I’ll have to buy you the deluxe pack of these things, ’cause I will be ruinin’ lots of them.”

She thought it was the sexiest dammed thing when he always seemed to be rippin’ her panties.

Pulling her up from the bed, he let out a small Trevor-like growl.

“Oh!” She gasped as he pulled her close.

“Just call me the G.I. Joe edition of the cowboy dolls.”

Her breathless laughter grew as she reached down to unsnap those sexy silver jean buttons. “Well, you sure come fully equipped, Mister G.I. Cowboy!” She eased her hand into his open fly and took his equipment in her capable hand, stroking him fiercely. “Locked and loaded.”

He winced with the pleasure of it and growled again. He then lifted her in the air and dropped her onto the bed. “Yippee ki-yay!”

Their breathless laughter echoed through the room.

~~
****
~~

Maggie rushed through the hallway. After Nando told her that Bren’s cowboy was just gang groped by a crowd of women clients, Daisy needed to know about this!

Someone crashed into her, and she bounced back.

“Well, there you are, Miss Monroe!” Mr. Morty scowled at her.

Gulping, she tugged her apron down over her ample hips. “Oh, sorry Mister Horty…”

His face turned beet red.

“I mean, Mr. Torty— Oh! I’m so sorry, Mister—?”

“Morty!” he sneered. “Really, Miss Monroe, you shouldn’t hang out with the likes of that Cuban cabana boy!”

Maggie tried hard to keep from snickering. It was Nando’s fault, him always calling Morty different nicknames. She straightened her shoulders and just realized that he’d used her last name. No one here knew that except Mama Daisy. “How did you know my last name?”

“I would also like to know that!”

Maggie flipped around to see Daisy.

Daisy Plush went around her. “Just how did you figure that out, Mr. Morty?”

“Because I asked to see Maggie Monroe.” A man stepped out from the nearest hallway door.

“Pops!” Maggie yelled and ran to hug her father.

He scooped her up and spun her around. “Maggy pie!”

When he finally set her down, Maggie whirled back and saw that only a stunned looking Mr. Morty stood there. “Mama?” she called. She then looked up at her father. “Well, that sure isn’t like Daisy!”

He grinned at her. “You’re wrong; it is exactly like her.”

Mr. Morty gaped at the both of them. “She went completely white! Then, she squeaked like a titmouse and ran. I never saw a woman move that fast in spandex and high heels in all my life!” Mister

Maggie was so disappointed. She really wanted to have her parents get along. “Daddy, why did she do that?”

“Some women are just naturally good at running, I suppose.” Rand shrugged his big shoulders and gave her a dazzling smile.

“No. The Daisy I know is brave and she’d never run from anything.”

Rand took her hand and his smile never slipped. “Never mind about that, don’t worry over it. There’s a lot your mother and I have to hammer out. For now, I want to know just what kind of ranch this is.”

Maggie swung her befuddled gaze over to Mr. Morty, only to see him running—or was it scampering?—down the hall as fast as he could go.
Gee, thanks, Mister Horty!
Turning to look at her Pop, she sighed. “Well—um?”

“I didn’t see any steers, or any other kind of animal. Not counting the kind who wear too much makeup and some really tight leather.”

Maggie tried to look anywhere but at him. “It’s a— a Bed and Breakfast house.”
There!
It was partly true, there were beds and all the guests do stay for breakfast in bed! Well, except for the women who believed it wasn’t proper to be out when only hospitals and legs were open. “Oh!” Maggie exclaimed. “I just figured that one out,” she mused aloud.