The Price (6 page)

“Oh God yes,” Kate purred, feeling a twinge of pleasure ripple through her body.

“Tell me Kate, did he ever do this to you?” said Jack as he slammed his mouth over hers and prevented her from answering.

Kate felt like she was melting, as Jack slid his hands through her hair, pressing against her scalp, holding her tight to his mouth while he consumed her with his tongue. Her body surrendered, giving up any sense of control.

“Oh God,” she gasped when he parted from her lips, lifting her sweet buttocks up and down as the sound of water slapped around them.

“Come on, baby. Give it me,” he groaned, feeling his own heightened pleasure ready to explode.

“Oh, Jack,” she cried, feeling her body climb until it was ready to explode.

Another soft cry was heard from the other room and Kate glanced in the direction of their bedroom.

“No…no,” Jack groaned, hearing it, too as he grabbed her head and made her look at him. “He’ll settle back down. Let’s finish this quick, baby.”

Just then, they both heard the loud wail of their son bellowing through the bathroom.

“Oh crap,” moaned Kate, as her eyes darted open and her son became her focus.

“No…no…no…Kate,” Jack objected as she lifted from him and went to climb from the tub.

“I have to, Jack,” she said, leaving the sensual waters. She wrapped a towel around herself and went to her son.

Jack groaned again, feeling his need all bunched up in the pit of his belly and laid back against the tub, banging his head on the tile. He shook his head and laughed, knowing this was going to be the first of many interrupted moments between him and Kate. Jack climbed from the tub and grabbed a towel to dry off. His need was still strong and his body ached to be inside her again.

He walked into the bedroom and saw Kate sitting in the rocking chair nursing their son.

“Little man, you are going to give your daddy blue balls if you keep interrupting me and your momma.” He planted a kiss on top of the infant’s head. “I was so close, too!” He leaned over and kissed her as well.

“Me too,” Kate giggled, seeing his need for her poking through the towel.

Jack fell on to the bed and propped his head up on his elbows.

“We’re waiting for you to finish, Barbie doll.” He grinned and winked at her, pointing to his arousal.

“So I see.”

“Well this is a first for us,” he exclaimed.

“And probably not the last.” Kate tried to hide her grin.

“I suspect you’re right,” said Jack, “but it doesn’t make it any easier on me. I’m aching something fierce!”

“Poor baby,” she teased.

“That’s right, poor baby,” he teased back. “If you aren’t going to take care of it, I’ll do it myself.”

“Don’t you dare, Jack McBride,” said Kate, giving him a cross look. “You aren’t the only one in need of relief. You better wait for me and finish me off first.”

“I’ll finish you off, all right,” he grinned.

Kate had no doubt he would. A surge formed in her belly just thinking about it. God she loved that man. She glanced at her son, and the love gushed over her. She could not be happier than she was this very minute. She had it all—a perfect healthy son and the man who loved her like no other.
How could Mother not see this
, she wondered,
when it was so obvious to the whole world
. The notion of her taking any interest in getting back together with Paul was ludicrous. Kate was right where she belonged—beside Jack and her son.

“What are we going to do about my mother?” asked Kate.

“Do you really want to kill the mood, baby?” frowned Jack.

“No,” she laughed.

“We’ll deal with her tomorrow,” said Jack, as he watched Kate change his son to her other breast and latch on like he was starved. “Man, he’s chugging on those things.”

“I think my milk has come in fuller.”

“Don’t tell me that now,” Jack groaned, as his eyes danced with jealous hunger.

“Behave yourself,” she giggled again.

“As soon as he is asleep, I am going to be all over them,” he grinned. “As a matter of fact I’m going to be all over you like bees to honey.”

“You going to sting me, Jack?”

“I’m going to poke you with my stinger and you’re going to love it!”

“I can’t wait!” said Kate, and she bit her bottom lip.

“Oh, you’re punishing me again with that sweet little mouth of yours.” He stood from the bed and walked to her side. “I have half a mind to spank you with my tongue.”

He leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips. He finished the kiss and saw two dark eyes staring at him.

“You like me kissing your momma?” he spoke soft to his son. “I give you kisses, too.”

Jack laid light kisses to Jesse’s cheek. As he did, his son lost all interest in his mother and he released a sweet coo to his daddy.

“Oh my, you are definitely Daddy’s little boy,” said Jack picking up his son and cradling him in his arms. “Let’s say you and me take a walk to the changing table so I can change your diaper while your momma crawls into bed.”

Kate climbed under the covers and snuggled against her pillow, watching the two most important men in her life. Jack oozed his love all over his son, talking to him and gently playing until Jesse released another cooing sound. He changed his diaper then carried him to their bed. He lay on the bed, placing his son between them.

“Did you hear him talking to me,” he asked, like any proud father would. “Kate?”

He looked up and saw her eyes were closed and a slight snore escaped her lips.

“Oh, you traitor!” Jack smiled and pulled the blanket up around her. “Sweet dreams, baby.”

He lay there watching his wife while he played with his son.
Life can’t get any better than this
, thought Jack. He had it all, and he was not about to let any two-bit ex try to wrangle his way back into Kate’s life. Jack’s possessive nature took over thinking about the letter. It annoyed him to no end and the real kicker to boot was that Kate’s mother waltzed right in and slipped it under his nose.

“Your grandma is a meddler, Jesse,” he spoke low to his son, watching him coo a bubble to his lip. Jack popped it as the infant pursed into a sour face. “My sentiments exactly!”

Jack made the same face as he folded his son into his arms and laid his tiny head against his chest. He rubbed his back and rocked him back and forth in bed. Jack could just imagine the pleasure the tall sophisticate had at his expense, but if she thought she won round one, she had another thing coming to her.

A slow curve formed on the side of his face as his mind began to brew what he was going to do. He wasn’t the kind of man to be bested, especially by some “spoiled”
Californicator
like Marnie. By the time he was done with her, she would be spinning all the way back to her misguided, high-society lifestyle and her snooty beach house. His mind was made up and when Jack McBride got something in his head, there was nothing or no one that could talk him out of it. That’s just the way he was.

FIVE

GAUNTLETS AND BATTLE AXES

“Morning, Marnie!”

Jack sat at the dining room table, reading the newspaper with one hand while rocking Jesse in his bouncy seat. He looked up and saw his mother-in-law overly-dressed in tailor made pants, a crème satin camisole with heels to match. He reached for his coffee, in order to hide the amusement plastered on his face.

“Well don’t you all wake up at the crack of dawn,” Marnie moaned, thinking her son-in-law was way too chipper for this time of morning, as she took a seat next him.

“We have a ranch to run,” declared Jack. “Pancake Jamboree should be coming back any moment now, and the next guided tour should be leaving in about thirty minutes. You best eat up and fast if you are to make that tour.”

“Me?” she gasped. “I don’t do tours, much less horses, especially not before noon.”

“Nonsense, Mother,” said Kate, as she entered the dining room carrying breakfast and a pot of coffee.

“What is that?” Marnie’s face puckered at the full-sized cowboy breakfast her daughter placed in front of her.

“It’s a good, hearty meal,” said Jack, holding up his mug for Kate to pour him another cup of coffee. After, she gave her husband a quick kiss before joining them at the table.

“You eat like this every day?” Marnie exclaimed, looking at her daughter.

“Ranching is hard work,” stated Kate, and she picked up her fork and dug in. “You need your energy.”

“Kathryn, you’re eating bacon and
sausage
?” Marnie observed in sheer horrified California fashion.

“Yes, why?” She popped the perfect bite of potatoes, eggs and sausage into her mouth.

“The cholesterol alone will kill you if the fat doesn’t get you first.” Her mother frowned disapprovingly. “You should let me make you a smoothie. It’s loaded with protein and not empty calories.”

“Oh, I haven’t done a smoothie in over a year,” she said, as she took a piece of bacon and went to place it in her mouth.

“And it shows.” Marnie slapped Kate’s hand, making her drop the bacon, then removed the plate from under her daughter’s nose and set it across the table. “You need to go for a run with me to work off that baby fat you’re carrying on your hips and backside.”

“What fat?” cried Kate, straining over her shoulder to look at her bottom.

“Kate’s backside is just fine,” said Jack, over the brim of the newspaper and he pushed the plate back in front of his wife. “You still have the finest ass I’ve ever squeezed, baby.”

“Thank you, Jack.” She smiled.

“Anytime, baby.” He nodded and resumed his morning, ritual read.

Kate picked up her fork and was ready to dive in once more to the good hearty meal.

“Not if she keeps eating like this,” said a determined Marnie, taking the fork from Kate’s hand.

Jack set aside the newspaper and saw a frustrated pout on his wife’s lips.

“Come here, baby. Let me look at that sweet ass of yours,” he said in his up-to-no-good voice.

“Jack, you’re crazy.” Kate shook her head.

“Crazy about you,” he said as he hopped out of the chair, and before Kate could stop him, he picked her up from her seat and set her feet on the ground.

He sat in her chair and held tight to her hips, roaming his hands down over her backside.

“That is one luscious ass,” he declared, and nipped her cheek through her jean shorts. He pulled her down on his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. “My wife is perfect just the way she is.” He glared smugly at his mother-in-law.

Marnie scowled. He was taunting her to get a reaction. It was her turn to glare at her daughter who also did not seem to mind her husband’s demoralizing display of brazen behavior.

“Kathryn, have you no shame?”

She didn’t until she saw the not-too-pleased expression on her mother’s matriarchal-like face.

“Jack, behave,” she said under her breath.

“So sue me. I like touching my wife.” He gave her a wide-eyed grin. “Maybe Grandma here would want to watch her grandson while I take you upstairs and grope you in other places.”

“Jack.” She nudged him with a suppressed giggle.

“Did I make your panties wet?” he whispered in her ear.

“Maybe,” she whispered back as Jack planted a good kiss to her neck and took a bite of flesh. Her face flushed a little, seeing her mother’s jaw drop to the floor. “I’ll start another pot of coffee,” she said, and he released his hold on her.

Kate felt like a kid who got caught with her hands in the cookie jar, and she scrambled from the room. Jack sat back with an amused grin and watched his wife disappear into the kitchen like a lizard heading for brush.

“You’re a crude man, Jack.” Marnie frowned, pushing her plate away.

“That’s your opinion,” he chuckled, still looking at the empty doorway and breathing in the remnants of her perfume then looked at his scowling mother-law. “But the way I figure it, if Kate likes it, that’s all that counts.”

“My daughter is out of her mind at the moment,” declared Marnie. “She never acted this brazen when she was with Paul.”

“Well maybe that’s because she never had a real man before me,” said Jack, as he steadied his knuckles on the table. “From what I understand, Paul wasn’t the most earth shattering when it came to the bedroom.”

“And you are?” she frowned.

“Damn right I am,” he laughed. “I rock her world all the way down to curling her pretty little toes. You think her ex could top that?”

“You and Paul are not cut from the same cloth.” Marnie laughed, waving an invisible dismissive hand at his arrogance.

“You’re right. We’re not.” His eyes narrowed and the smile left his face. “He’s a two-timing low life that threw your daughter to the curb, and I think it’s best you remember that the next time you go handing her letters from a man that hurt her.”

“Oh.” Marnie shifted in her seat. “Kathryn told you about the letter.”

“Of course she told me about the letter,” said Jack, maintaining a controlled exterior, though it was evident there was an inferno brewing beneath those steadied green eyes of his. “My wife and I have no secrets together.”

He watched Marnie sit back in her chair and smile. She was a cool one. He would give her that. Not one flinch or the appearance of being uncomfortable. She lifted her coffee cup and took a drink, as the same smile continued across her fair complexion.

“Why did you really come, Marnie?” Jack asked the question that was foremost on his mind.

“To see my daughter, of course,” she responded, as if not skipping a beat.

“We haven’t heard hide nor hair of you even after Kate called to tell you we were getting hitched. Now she calls and tells you she’s had a kid, and you are in your car driving two days later. What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch,” she said coolly. “I suspected Kathryn needed my help.”

“So you thought you’d rescue her, is that it?” Jack sat back in his chair and crossed his legs.

“I needed to see for myself that my daughter is happy,” she stated like she was reading a headline from the morning news.

“Well, now you’ve seen,” he said bluntly. “You can visit with your daughter all you like, but don’t make yourself unwelcome in my home. Kate’s done pretty well with you out of her life up until this point. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings any to see it continue that way.”