Champagne & Chaps

by Cheyenne McCray

  The thought that she’d probably been used to deliver drugs still made Sabrina’s stomach clench. Not only could she have been caught and arrested but also she had been used for something so vile it made her sick.

  “Sounds like someone was watching her,” Dillon said. “They knew she had the money and tried to steal it at the truck stop. When that didn’t work they followed her until they could get her alone out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Probably the same dope pushers who gave her the cash,” Wayne said.

  “Harper put Sabrina in a real bad situation.” Wyatt looked like he was grinding his teeth. “Bastard could have gotten her killed.”

  With an equally grim look, Dillon said, “She’s lucky to be alive.”

  “They have nothing they can really pin on Harper,” Wyatt said. “But he’s been a troublemaker all around. Worked for his brother Jeb and stole some equipment from him.”

  Dillon rested his soda can on his knee. “Yeah. Derrick was using Jeb’s trailer and saying he was working in other areas of the ranch when he was nowhere close.”

  “Jeb got into a fight with Derrick,” Wyatt said. “Kicked him off the ranch.”

  Sabrina rubbed her palms on her jeans. “Derrick is a real mess.”

  “Yep.” Dillon nodded. “But that’s not the half of it. He married a woman from these parts some time ago and was arrested for domestic abuse. She divorced him and he moved away for a long time.”

  “Not long enough,” Wyatt growled.

  “When Derrick came back, he convinced Jeb that he’d changed, so Jeb gave him another shot,” Wayne said. “Up ’til now Derrick’s been working for Jeb.”

  “Derrick is an alcoholic and a gambler.” Dillon gripped his soda can. “Probably ran some drugs with small time guys to pay for his debts.”

  “Something tells me he’s in some serious trouble with whoever was supposed to get that money,” Wayne said.

  Dillon shook his head in agreement. “Pretty dumb guy to rely on her to deliver the money. If he’s afraid that the people he works for might hurt him, well, he deserves it.”

  “Chow’s ready.” Zane started loading hamburgers and steaks onto a platter.

  Jessie started toward the back door. “I need to grab the baked beans from the crockpot.”

  Kaitlyn stood and followed Jessie. “I’ll get the fruit salad out of the fridge.”

  “I’ve got the deviled eggs and salad.” Danica had already reached the door and was going in.

  “Anything I can help with?” Sabrina pushed herself up from her chair.

  Jessie paused at the door and smiled. “I could use some help with the olive tray.”

  “You’ve got it.” Sabrina smiled at Wyatt. “Be right back.”

  The other three women were already in the kitchen by the time Sabrina got there. They were talking and laughing and drew Sabrina right in with them. Jessie handed her the olive tray that had an assortment of olives, along with carrot and celery sticks. Sabrina also took the ranch and bleu cheese dressings with her.

  In moments everything was on the picnic table and everyone had gathered around. Sabrina was between Dillon and Wyatt and she felt right at home with the chatter and laughter that reminded her of her own family. Except this family was full of hot cowboys.

  Sabrina learned that Jessie was supposed to have been Zane’s wedding photographer, but he called off the wedding. The pair had ended up together sometime after that.

  Kaitlyn and Wayne had dated years ago, but Kaitlyn had left for a while. A long while, according to Wayne. During that time, Wayne had been Special Forces in the Army and had come back a war hero. It was clear that it embarrassed him when that subject was brought up. He was humble when it came down to it.

  All five of the Cameron siblings had inherited property from their parents and the guys had all stayed in the family business and ranched.

  “Danica just graduated with her bachelor’s degree from the College of Agriculture at the University of Arizona,” Zane said.

  “That’s great.” Sabrina smiled. “What do you plan to do with your degree?”

  “Well…” Danica looked around the table at her brothers. “I’m thinking about taking a job in San Diego.”

  Everyone stopped eating and looked at Danica.

  “Man, I’d hate to see you leave, Sis,” Dillon said.

  Zane put his fork down. “Why so far away?”

  “It’s a really good job.” Danica smiled. “It’s for a research associate at the University of California at San Diego. I’d be working in a department that does breeding maintenance, genotyping, cloning, and things like that. I find all of that fascinating.”

  “Have you already been offered the position?” Wayne asked.

  “It starts in the fall when the position is officially open,” she replied. “I just received the offer yesterday. I haven’t accepted yet.”

  “Congratulations.” Wyatt smiled at his sister. “You never said anything about interviewing out of state. If you take it we’ll miss you like hell but will be proud of you.”

  “We’re proud of you no matter what,” Zane said and the brothers all nodded. “Would like to see you closer, I have to admit.”

  “There are positions I’ve been offered here, too.” Danica picked up her fork. “But that’s one I’m seriously considering.”

  “Lots of guys trying to pin this girl down.” Wayne looked at Sabrina as he nodded toward his sister. “She won’t have anything to do with them.”

  “She’s a tough one,” Wyatt said. “Boys follow her around like puppy dogs and she just shoos them away.”

  “Ha.” Danica rolled her eyes. “When I do find a guy I like, you four find a way to chase him off.”

  Wayne grinned. “What are big brothers for?”

  “If she heads off to California, who’s going to be there to vet her boyfriends?” Dillon said.

  “There’s another plus for taking that job,” Danica said but was smiling.

  After they finished eating, Jessie and Zane went to the kitchen and brought out a large birthday cake covered with real red roses and white icing. Everyone started singing happy birthday.

  “Please tell me it’s my favorite,” Danica said when the candles were all out.

  “Always,” Zane said. “Aunt Grace made it yesterday.”

  “Yay.” She picked up the serving spatula and knife. “Just wish she was here.”

  She cut into the cake. It was blood red, obviously a red velvet cake. As she served slices, she said to Sabrina, “Aunt Grace has been making this cake for twenty-three years for my birthday from an old recipe that was handed down through the family, and she always puts red roses on it. I adore red roses. She also promised me the recipe this year.”

  “Speaking of Aunt Grace, she sent this.” Zane produced an envelope and handed it to Danica as she sat down.

  “I got what I wanted for my birthday.” Danica laughed after she opened the card. “It’s the recipe.”

  Her brothers and sister-in-laws gave Danica presents that included a gold watch, a pendent, and a slim laptop.

  “You all spoil me.” She smiled at her brothers. “You always have.”

  “Of course,” Wyatt said. “You’re our baby sister.”

  They dug into their cake, which Sabrina had to agree was incredible. She’d never tasted any cake as good as this one. She wondered if Danica would share the recipe.

  Zane cleared his throat, capturing everyone’s attention. He was beaming as he looked at Jessie who got up and went to him then perched on his lap.

  She smiled and looked both excited and nervous. “Zane and I have some news, too. We’re making you all aunts and uncles.”

  A moment of surprised silence and then everyone around the table erupted with words of congratulations.

  Danica got up and flung her arms around Jessie and then Zane and then each one of the brothers hugged them, too, as well as Kaitlyn. Sabrina got up to give her congratulations and found herself en
veloped in big hugs.

  There was laughter and celebrating around the table.

  Danica settled back in her seat, a big grin on her face. “When is my little niece or nephew arriving?”

  Jessie appeared perfectly radiant like a mom-to-be should. “The end of April.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Kaitlyn looked as excited as Danica.

  When everyone had cleaned up the mess and every dish was clean, they went into the dining room where they sat around the huge dinner table that could seat at least a dozen people. The table had two leaves in the middle. They took one of the leaves out and the eight of them scooted their chairs around the table.

  Dillon produced a deck of cards and held it up. “Time for a good game of poker.”

  “I hope you like poker.” Wyatt leaned close to Sabrina. “This family is brutal when it comes to the game.”

  “Girls always win around here,” Danica said as she got out the poker chips.

  Her brothers vocally disagreed as they bought into the game, trading dollars for poker chips that valued from a quarter to a dollar.

  “Girls rule.” With a grin at Sabrina, Jessie started shuffling the deck like a pro. “Just you watch.”

  Chapter 13

  It was late into the evening when they arrived back at Wyatt’s ranch. She had planned to stay a few nights with him so she’d packed an overnight bag and had it in the back seat.

  Moonlight covered the land and the fields of grass looked almost magical in the silvery glow.

  Wyatt brought his truck to a stop in front of his house and killed the engine. Before she could open her door, he was already there. He opened it, took her by her waist, and swung her down from the truck. She laughed and he didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath before he kissed her hard. She sighed into the kiss, sliding her arms around his neck.

  “It’s so good to have you here, sweetheart.” He kissed her hard again then straightened. “You’re out late,” he said over her shoulder. Then he added, “Sabrina, I’d like you to meet my foreman.”

  She looked in the direction he did and she smiled at the good-looking man who was dismounting from his horse. He took off his hat and held it in one hand.

  “Jason, this is Sabrina Holliday.” Wyatt turned to Sabrina. “This is Jason Sattler,” he added as she and Jason shook hands.

  She liked the look of the tall, lean cowboy and his solid grip. Even in the moonlight she could see the friendly light in his eyes. “A pleasure, ma’am,” he said with a nod.

  After he shook hands with her, he turned to Wyatt. “Got back not too long ago. We found tire tracks and a cut fence line, this time in the west pasture, but not real far from the last place. Took us a while because the fence was messed up real good and we didn’t’ find it until late.”

  “Damn.” Wyatt looked grim.

  “I think the same—sonof—” He glanced at Sabrina as he cut himself off. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said, then looked at Wyatt.

  “I know who you meant.” Wyatt scowled. “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

  Jason nodded. “Anything else, boss?”

  “You’ve been out late enough tonight.” Wyatt shook his head. “Thanks for taking care of it.”

  “No problem.” Jason turned to Sabrina. “Have a good night, ma’am.”

  She nodded. “You, too.”

  Wyatt clapped his hand on Jason’s arm. The cowboy touched the brim of his hat as he gave a nod to Sabrina then mounted his horse. He clicked his tongue as he and the horse moved away into the moonlit night.

  With a preoccupied look on his face, Wyatt grabbed her purple overnight bag from the back of the king cab. His expression shifted when he met her gaze.

  “Sorry, sweetheart. Just more trouble that we don’t need.” He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her close to him. “But I don’t intend to think about that tonight. Tomorrow is soon enough for that.”

  She leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked. He kissed the top of her head and they headed into his house. He closed the door behind them and set his hat on a coat rack.

  Flutters erupted in her belly as they went through the living room and down the hall to his bedroom. It was the first night they’d been alone together since they’d made love in the cabin.

  He set her bag down on a chair in the bedroom then brought her into his arms. He smiled. “Did you enjoy yourself today?”

  “I love your family.” She returned his smile. “I had a lot of fun.”

  “Good.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Now that I’ve shared you for a while, you’re all mine.”

  “Yes.” She kissed him softly. “I’m all yours.”

  He brought his lips to hers and gently explored her mouth with his tongue. She sighed as he kissed her and slid her arms around his neck. He felt solid and real. She breathed in his scent and felt the heat of his body against hers as he brought her body even tighter to hers.

  His body was hard, the ridge of his erection even harder. The feel of it sent tingles through her belly to the place between her thighs. She had wanted him again since the first and last time they’d made love.

  He moved his hands across her back and his palms were warm through her blouse. He eased them down to her waist and then he cupped her ass and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her to the bed and settled her onto her back on the quilt. He turned the switch on the lamp beside the bed, the glow gentle and buttery warm.

  She looked up at him and into the intensity of his expression. He ran his hands over the jeans covering one leg and tugged off her athletic shoe and then slowly stripped off the sock, then removed her other sock and shoe.

  When her feet were bare, he reached for the button of her jeans then pulled the zipper down. She raised her hips as he tugged the jeans over her legs and tossed them onto the floor. She was wearing red panties with black lace and he left them on as he unbuttoned her blouse.

  She was wearing a red and black lace camisole that matched her panties, and a black prosthetics bra beneath that, but she still felt a twinge in her belly that what he was seeing wasn’t real. He helped her out of her blouse, leaving her in the camisole, bra, and panties.

  “I want to see all of you,” he murmured as he touched the hem of her camisole.

  Heat rose to her cheeks as she looked up at him. “I—I don’t know.”

  “All I care about is you, like I told you before.” He skimmed his knuckles close to where her breasts had been. “I care that you’re healthy and that you’re a special woman. You are beautiful to me in every way possible.”

  His touch sent shivers through her and his words warmed her heart at the same time. She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said, but she knew she sounded hesitant and unsure.

  He gave her a soft, sexy smile. Instead of pushing her camisole up he tugged her panties down. A thrill went through her belly as they slid over her legs and he dropped them to the floor.

  When he reached for the hem of her camisole again, he slowly pushed it up to her shoulders and slipped it over her head. Then he raised her up enough to unfasten her bra with the prosthetics and he removed it and set it aside.

  The backs of her eyes ached with tears. Not only from the sense of loss and embarrassment that she’d felt, but the tears threatened to come because of the gentle way he touched her, tracing her healed scars with his fingertips.

  He lowered his lips and kissed her chest, sweet butterfly kisses and a tear did leak from her eyes. It wasn’t embarrassment or anything else. It was because of the beauty of the moment.

  He raised his head and traced the path of the tear with his thumb. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m simply grateful that you are here with me now. I am grateful for you.”

  Another tear rolled down her cheek and he kissed the path it made. She looped her arms around his neck and smiled at him. “Thank you,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for letting
me love all of you.”

  Her heart filled with emotion as she pulled him down for a kiss, and she made a sound of want and need. He groaned as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her in return. He moved his lips and kissed the corner of her mouth then kissed her nose and then her chin. He started working his way down the column of her throat.

  As he went he also kissed all of the visible bruises left over from the accident and moved his lips down to her belly and on to the juncture of her thighs.

  Her stomach flip-flopped as he pressed her thighs apart with his palms. He nuzzled her curls then ran his tongue along her folds. She gasped and raised her hips without even realizing she was going to. He licked her delicately then with more intensity.

  She gripped the comforter in her hands, her fingers clenched in the material as she writhed with pleasure that was almost too sweet to bear. Her thighs trembled as she felt the rush of climax coming on.

  He slid his palms beneath her ass cheeks and sucked her clit. She cried out as an orgasm slammed into her and light sparked behind her eyelids. She couldn’t help it as she clenched his head between her thighs as he licked her even harder.

  She twisted to the side, unable to bear it any longer and he gave a soft laugh as he moved up her body and kissed her. Her mind spun as she came down from the peak, her core still throbbing.

  He rose up, a smile on his handsome face, as he toed off his boots and removed his socks. She eased up in bed so that she was sitting on the edge of the mattress, smiling at him.

  She watched as he unbuttoned his shirt revealing his hard, muscled chest and her gaze traveled down to the his taut abs and the way his Wrangler jeans hung low on his hips.

  As he removed his belt, she got to her knees in front of him then unbuttoned his jeans. He brushed her light brown hair out of her eyes, pushing it aside as she drew his zipper down. She brought his jeans to his ankles and smiled when she saw the hard ridge of his erection through his boxer briefs. She pulled them down, freeing his cock and he stepped out of the jeans and boxer briefs. She wrapped her fingers around his erection, feeling the soft skin over such hardness beneath.