Day, Xondra - Menage on the Prairie (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (8 page)

Chapter Six

Supper that evening was quiet. Ryan sat at his usual place and glanced back and forth at Joe and Kate between bites.

“That’s some rain, eh?” It wasn’t the best way to kick-start a conversation, especially since the said topic had already been bled dry throughout the day. But anything was better than nothing. It wasn’t hard to sense tension in the air.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Kate smiled. She stood from the table and motioned to the stove where a pot of coffee sat waiting for them. “Coffee anyone?”

Both men nodded at the same time.

After coffee, it wasn’t long and it was time to settle into bed. Early to bed and early to rise was the motto around these parts, and it was a well-set routine.

In bed, Ryan did his best to avoid thinking what may or may not be going on in the other bedroom. And while the idea of Joe being married was sinking in, he still didn’t have to like it.

Turning onto his side, he faced the wall and closed his eyes, begging for sleep to soon overtake him, the only sound being the rain pounding the rooftop overhead.

* * * *

Kate stood before the lone bureau in the bedroom. She ran one finger across the trinket box. Inside she was nervous, scared in fact. Both were silly emotions considering she was well aware of what was to come next, being a new bride and this being her wedding night. She wasn’t a virgin, she wasn’t inexperienced, but yet she felt as if she were all
that and more.

Through the dim light, she turned to see Joe sitting there on the edge of the bed. He looked up, smiling at her. She was quick to return one. She motioned to the buttons on the back of her dress. “Could you?” she asked.

Standing behind her she felt his fingers work the buttons, unfastening them one by one.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice low as he struggled with one button. “I’m a bit clumsy and my fingers seem so large compared to these tiny buttons.”

“It’s okay. You can just imagine how hard it is to dress sometimes. It’s very impractical to have them located back there. But fashion being what it is, who am I to question it?”

“I don’t know anything about fashion or things like that, but I do know that you smell really good.”

His comment had taken her aback. She couldn’t
help but giggle, just a bit. “It’s just a bit of scent. I don’t like anything too strong. His hands
slid the garment down over her shoulders, underneath her corset came into view.

She turned to him
and allowed the dress she’d been wearing to fall to the floor. Her hands now traced down each of his shoulders, feeling the firm muscle under the home-spun cotton.

Together, they moved to the bed. Joe pulled back the bedclothes and then
looked at her as if waiting for direction.

“Could you?” she asked, needing help undressing. Of course she could have done it herself, but this way was much more fun. “Just loosen it a bit for me.”

“Of course.”

“Now I can breathe. That thing can be most uncomfortable.”

Joe sat on the edge of the bed and watched her with a curious eye. “Then why do you wear it?”

Kate tossed the contraption, as she often called it in secret, to the end of the bed. “Good question. It’s a combination of fashion and just proper dressing. I’ve not really put much thought into it before.”

“Forgive me asking such a silly thing. You must think I’m just some dumb country boy.”

She sat next to him. “I think nothing of the sort.”

“I’m not the most experienced.” He flashed her a sheepish grin. “This is kind of new to me.”

“Then we can both do our best to put each other at ease.” Just clad in her under things, Kate slid under the bedclothes, patting the empty spot next to her. “I promise I don’t bite.”

* * * *

And there he was, alone, with Kate watching and waiting for him to make the next move. Her eyes following him as he first shed his shirt and subsequently his trousers. Standing there in just his long johns, he could hear his heart pounding, his pulse racing. It was his first time all over again and then some. It didn’t help matters to know that Ryan lay just on the other side of the wall. Ryan who he loved and desperately didn’t want to hurt, yet he knew the damage had been done.

Sliding in bed next to Kate, his nervousness subsided. Her fingers touched his bare chest, grazing his nipples, and they stiffened under her touch.

“Coming here, I wondered what would be on the other side of that ad and I can say I’m very pleased.” She pressed her body against him, her smooth, soft skin gliding against him. She looked up, her chin now pressing against his chest while with one hand she pulled her hair down, well over her shoulders, in a lush golden wave.

“I can say the same. Having that attraction there is definitely a bonus, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be. But once I saw you that first day, I knew it would all come together even if we did get off to an abrupt start.” He touched her hair, reveling at its silken texture.

“But here we are,” she replied adding a sigh. “And we’re doing fine.”

“We are indeed.” Joe glanced up at the ceiling for a moment and listened to the rain overhead. That’s when she leaned over him and kissed him with an eagerness that instantly caused a stirring deep within.

Her lips, soft and sweet, glided across his own. Together they both merged into a hot, passionate embrace of not only the emotional but also the physical.

Limbs entwined, the last of their clothing was quickly shed. Kate moaned when he first thumbed her left nipple and then brought his mouth down over the right one. Inside his mouth he felt them harden, nubs that begged to be suckled.

“Why, well I never,” she said, her voice breathless. “That’s just delightful.”

There was no doubt in Joe’s mind the difference between making love to a woman than to a man.

The differences were striking and now feeling Kate submit to him, sliding under his body, her legs wrapping around his waist, he truly appreciated what each had to bring to the table, so to speak.

She was smooth, soft, beguiling and again her lips and that mouth. Her hands toyed with his sparse chest hair. And when she reached down to grip his buttocks, he felt himself slide between her legs, connecting with her hot wetness.

* * * *

Joe sure as heck wasn’t Darcy. And now with him throbbing against her most intimate parts, she wanted him more than ever. She wanted him inside her, exploring her, and in turn she’d explore him.

With her legs wrapped around his waist, she looked up at him and smiled. This was her husband, everything was right, everything was just the way she wanted it to be and there was a wondrous sense of security that came in knowing that.

Joe paused for a moment, his hardness pressing into her. Was he waiting for her approval to continue? She moved her hips to meet him and felt him slide slowly into her.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered into her ear. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

She appreciated the thought and sensitivity. Joe was one in a million. She nodded. And to accentuate her point, she took him deeper, savoring newfound sensations that she had never experienced before.

Lovemaking with Darcy had always been quick and very self-serving, his needs always coming first. But now, with Joe, for the first time she felt things she had never experienced and it was glorious, liberating, and all points in between.

A heat rose between them as they moved together, forming one fluid motion locked together.

With his head nestled against her neck, Kate ran her fingers through Joe’s hair, coaxing him along with words that she would never have imagined she’d say. It was hard to break from sensibilities that had been engrained into her very core over the past years of her life.

His breath, hot and rapid, blew onto her cheek. Locking eyes, each became lost in the other’s.

He tensed over her, every muscle of his well-toned body flexing the more he worked himself into her.

And then Kate felt it, for the first time ever, it rose from deep down in her groin, a combination of intense pressure and hot, delicious pleasure.

She groaned and tossed her head back as Joe quickened his pace, thrusting into her with an unrelenting vigor, his hips rising and then slamming back down to make her feel every inch of his manliness.

When she exploded, she clung to him, panting, gasping to catch her breath, feeling wave after wave of orgasmic bliss wash over her.

* * * *

When Kate clenched around him, her arms pulled him tight. He couldn’t hold off any longer, and he released himself into her, filling her with his seed.

He carefully slipped to the side and together they lay in the darkness, each regaining their senses and composure.

“It’s never been
,
” she muttered, “so good.”

He laughed. “I’d be disappointed and slightly shamed if you said anything else.”

She nudged him playfully in the arm.

It wasn’t long before Joe could tell that she had fallen asleep beside him. He pulled the covers up around her and lay back, staring into the darkness. Sleep wouldn’t come so easily for him, he had things on his mind. In the next room, without a doubt, Ryan was still awake. A tinge of guilt wafted through him, causing him to grimace. Had he done right? Was this the way to salvation, as the preacher would have said? So much ran through his mind but the guilt was something awful to try and swallow.

Chapter Seven

At the crack of dawn, Ryan was awake and out of bed. He dressed quickly, made himself coffee, and was out of the house before anyone stirred.

Last night, he had heard more than enough to last him a lifetime, and the prospect of sitting at the table with the ever-loving couple this morning wasn’t something he wanted to face.

Hearing Kate moan through the walls and
them
whispering caused him to be heartsick. For most of the night he laid there in the darkness with a lump in the back of his throat, his heart breaking.

Pretending everything was fine and dandy was a lot harder than he thought it would be, and right now, he doubted if he could maintain the charade much longer. Love was the strongest emotion known to mankind, or so that was his thought. And he loved Joe without a doubt. Joe had been his, they had belonged to each other for so long and now
…

His mind ran amuck with many cuss words
as he crossed the path leading into the barn. What he needed was to get away. The ground was soft under his boots as he tread closer to the barn door, the rain had made a mess of everything. The crops were pretty
self-sufficient at this stage, so, darn it, he was taking the morning off and doing what he wanted to do for once.

Riding bareback was easy, he’d been taught to do so as a boy, and as he mounted the horse he looked back at the house, squinting his eyes against the morning sun. For a brief moment, he wondered what Joe and Kate were doing. Then he told himself he shouldn’t care. But he did.

Marsden wasn’t too far, he could be there and back in a couple of hours. And if they wondered where he was at, then let them wonder and worry. No longer did anyone have a claim to him, he was his own man.

With the wind in his face, Ryan bolted off down the road, his thoughts scattering across the plains surrounding him.

* * * *