Journey: A Cariad Romance Three Book Bundle (Cariad Collections)

by Grace, K D

  Sally whimpered.

  ‘Did you notice what he was packing?’ Aunt Rose craned her neck. ‘Because he’ll probably need some serious heat to overcome a cannibal biker.’

  Val shot her aunt a raised eyebrow.

  ‘Well, a man doesn’t want a wimpy piece at a time like this. That cop’s gun may be the only thing keeping that biker from eating us.’

  Sally whimpered louder.

  As the three watched, the biker dismounted and followed the cop around to the front of the patrol car.

  Aunt Rose strained at the seatbelt. ‘What’s that cop think he’s doing? Would you look at that! He needs to keep the cannibal in plain sight. Oh dear lord! If the cannibal takes out the cop, then we’re next, and no doubt he’ll have his way with us first, don’t think he won’t.’ The seatbelt looked like it could snap with her forward press against it. ‘Maybe he won’t be interested in a cougar.’ She honked into a delicate lace hankie and dabbed at her forehead.

  ‘Aunt Rose, are you all right?’ Sally hissed from the back seat.

  ‘I’m having palpitations,’ Aunt Rose wheezed. ‘And I think my blood sugar’s out of whack.’ She grabbed an open packet of chocolate covered raisins she’d stuffed in the glove box and began shoving them into her mouth.

  ‘Don’t worry.’ Sally squared her shoulders and patted Aunt Rose on the arm with a shaky hand. ‘We’re all in this together.’ She reached into her bag and pulled out a can of pepper spray. ‘We’ll go down fighting if we have to.’

  Val laid her head against the steering wheel and groaned. What the hell had she done in a past life to deserve this?

  ‘Look. Look! The officer’s coming back.’ Aunt Rose spoke around a mouthful of raisins. ‘What’s he think he’s doing? Would you look at that! The Cannibal’s getting away.’

  Sure enough, the biker mounted the hog, started his engine and drove off down the highway.

  The patrolman leaned in the window and handed back Val’s license. ‘You can go now, ma’am, but try to slow down a little.’

  ‘What about the fine?’

  He jerked his head toward the biker rapidly shrinking in the distance. ‘The Good Samaritan took care of it. You be careful now, hear?’ He tipped his hat and walked back to his car.

  Before Val could unravel what had just happened. Aunt Rose shoved her raisins back in the glove box and squirmed in the seat. ‘Well now we’re screwed, aren’t we? The cannibal has us by the short hairs now, doesn’t he? He’s letting us go just for the sport of it, that’s all, and us, three helpless women.’

  Sally whimpered. ‘We’re gonna die! My children’ll be orphans.’

  ‘Can’t think he’d have much taste for me,’ Aunt Rose said between snorts of her nasal inhaler. ‘My Ed used to deer hunt. He said the old ones weren’t good eating. Too tough.’

  ‘Will you two stop it? The man’s not a murderer or a cannibal.’

  ‘Then how do you explain him being so nice?’ Sally breathed.

  ‘Do people have to have a reason?’

  ‘For 60 bucks, they have a reason.’ Aunt Rose clutched her inhaler. ‘And that’ll no doubt involve having his way with us first.’

  Chapter Three

  Above the continuous drone of the country station, Aunt Rose and Sally speculated over half a bag of Cheetos and a couple of Diet Cokes on what the biker would do when he finally finished toying with them. The car only lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Sally dug shoulder-deep into her bag and pulled out a CD.

  ‘Auntie, I know how much you love your romance novels, so when we stopped at that last truck stop, I picked up an audio book for you. It might help us all take our minds off the cannibal. Look.’ She handed Aunt Rose a CD in a case that had a bodice-ripping cover.

  Val was manoeuvring through road works that had lanes narrowed to long, tight rows of orange PVC construction cones, but out of the corner of her eye, she did make out something about the Montana rancher’s mail order bride. She supposed anything would be better than what was spewing from the radio.

  Aunt Rose shoved the CD into the player and cranked the volume. Then she and Sally passed a package of Oreos back and forth as the saga began. Entertainment for at least the next few miles, Val thought. She’d be left alone with her own thoughts, those of them she could hear above the woman reader, who was attempting to read in both male and female voices, complete with a cowboy accent for the hardened rancher with the heart of gold.

  There was the usual conflict of the poor innocent virgin bride from out east, who missed her family terribly and felt hard done by to have to give herself over to such a brute. And yet she was so terribly attracted to his manliness. Surely she couldn’t be happy in such a barbaric place. Of course, the two of them didn’t get on from the beginning, and that led to sleeping in separate rooms until the rancher could send the prissy city girl back to where she belonged. She would certainly never make a rancher’s wife, but oh how he yearned to feel her curvy, nubile body next to his. Then an argument erupted, as they do. It was a terrible argument, and the lovely young thing stormed out of the house, but the rancher brute caught her behind the barn, spun her around and …

  ‘His lips were bruising as he took her there, pushing her up against the rough wall of the barn, her fighting like a wild cat, which only made him want her more.’

  Then the rancher ripped open the bodice of his virgin wife’s dress and began to manhandle her full succulent breasts, which rose and fell in great heaving gasps. At last she gave up fighting and held him to her as he suckled a tender pink nipple until it was swollen and ached with need she had never felt before, need she felt down deep in her womanhood.

  ‘Oh my,’ Aunt Rose breathed.

  Sally cleared her throat loudly. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was that kind of romance, Auntie. I’ll take it out.’

  As she reached for the CD player, Aunt Rose grabbed her with the claw. ‘Leave it,’ she grunted as the rancher’s hand found its way up under his little woman’s skirt to fondle the honeyed dew of her treasure box. ‘You paid good money for it. Might as well hear it out.’

  By the time the rancher guided his bride’s delicate trembling hand to rest against his throbbing manhood, Val’s unrequited pussy was throbbing in empathy, as memories of her encounter with Wank Man behind the toilets at the rest area came flooding back to her. She shifted restlessly against the seat, looking for the sweet spot that Wank Man had told her about. Her breasts felt heavy and her nipples felt like they’d drill slits through her blouse as she thought of the virgin bride’s swollen, well-suckled mammaries.

  Aunt Rose’s lips were pursed tight and her hands crushed the handkerchief she held as the cowboy found the pearl hard seat of his wife’s pleasure and she whimpered and squirmed in wonder that anything could feel so good.

  ‘Now how do you suppose some cowboy living out in the back of nowhere would know anything about the seat of a woman’s pleasure,’ Aunt Rose observed.

  Both Val and Sally shushed her in unison just as the man dipped a calloused finger into his brides aching need.

  Through the rear view mirror, Val caught a glimpse of Sally, hands clasped in her lap, head bowed as though she were praying.

  Val was beginning to wonder if an erect clit could split the seam out of a pair of jeans as she wriggled against the seat trying to be subtle, but feeling like she would burst more than a seam if she didn’t come and soon.

  Just as the rancher lifted his bride into his arms and whisked her up the stairs to his bed, Val found the sweet spot and felt her pussy gush and swell even further against the delicious vibration of the engine. She swallowed back a little whimper, which neither Aunt Rose nor Sally seemed to notice, as clothing removal began in earnest in the master bedroom of the ranch house.

  When the rancher released his turgid, pulsing pole, and his bride moaned her appreciation and opened her legs feeling so terribly naughty at giving in to such powerful lust, Val wriggled hard against the seat to get closer to
the sweet spot, and the shoulder strap of the seat belt shifted and pressed in tight against her right nipple. She didn’t adjust it, but let it rub, as they hit a stretch of rough road that suddenly seemed to translate every uneven spot, every imperfection in the asphalt straight to her cunt lips.

  As the rancher lowered his face to taste his bride’s creamy swollen womanhood, Aunt Rose spoke again. ‘And that’s another thing. I can’t see a loan rancher who has only ever had cows for company taking the time to … to do that to his wife. I’d think he’d be all business. About to explode. All anxious to get the job done.’ She nodded her conviction and stared straight ahead like a statue, all the while her hands worried the hankie in her lap. Sally nibbled her bottom lip, still holding her prayer posture. And Val wriggled again, feeling as though there was barely room for herself and her clit in the car seat, feeling wet and sticky and heavy all over.

  The rancher positioned himself and softly reassured his trembling wife that he would be as gentle as he could for her first time, that if she relaxed the pain would pass quickly and the pleasure would be more than worth it. The lovely bride promised him that this was exactly what she wanted – him inside her. She told him that she wanted to give herself to him, that she wanted to be a wife in more than name only. Sally cleared her throat again, very softly, and Aunt Rose grabbed the hand rest on the door like she was expecting a rough ride.

  As the rancher thrust home with his probing member and the virgin bride cried out in pain that quickly became pleasure, as she wrapped her legs around her husband’s waist like he was her wild stallion, Val wriggled against the seat one last time and shifted against the sweet spot, driving her distended clit hard against the vibration of the motor. And as the virgin mail order bride orgasmed on her rancher’s enormous manhood, Val practically shook the seat loose in her own release, the shoulder strap still raking deliciously against her nipple. Neither Aunt Rose nor Sally seemed to notice that she was shaking like a leaf. Neither Aunt Rose or Sally seemed to notice anything, not even the tide-pool scent of woman heat that was now so obvious to Val. They didn’t even notice as Val accelerated to pass the Hell’s Angel again. Nor did they notice his friendly wave.

  Chapter Four

  It was barely mid-afternoon when Aunt Rose decided she needed to eat or she’d die from hypoglycaemia. By the time Val found a truck stop, Sally was digging into her bag for the rest of the Cheetos to stave off Aunt Rose’s demise. Val dropped them at the diner, and they hobbled inside with Aunt Rose leaning heavily on Sally. Then she went to fill the car – a job that was bliss after hours of listening to her relatives comparing illnesses over an endless soundtrack of country music’s whiniest. That had been the entertainment after the rancher got his mail order bride properly knocked up.

  While waiting to pay, she picked up earplugs and a bag of Snickers. Under the circumstances, she’d rather have Jack Daniels, but Snickers would have to do. As she waited in line, a super-sized woman perched on an overworked stool did slow-mo checkout. Val called Sally on her cell phone. ‘I’m gonna be a while. Order me a burger and fries … I know it’s bad for me … My heart and I’ll take our chances.’ She crammed the phone back in her bag with a stifled curse.

  ‘Good for you! You should eat what you want.’

  She turned to find herself face to face with Wank Man. Startled, she bumped into the man in front of her and dropped her stash.

  As Wank Man bent to retrieve her goodies, his unshaven face broke into a smile and dark glasses slid down his sunburned nose once again revealing his lovely blue eyes. ‘Forget chicken or fish,’ he said as he handed her the Snickers. ‘There’s nothing like a good hunk of red meat. Now that’s real comfort food.’

  The cashier left her post for a price check. The man ahead of Val grumbled about poor service.

  ‘Tell me,’ Wank Man said, moving closer and speaking barely above a whisper. ‘Did you try my suggestion?’

  ‘You mean about the sweet spot. I did, actually.’

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘And?’

  ‘Worked like a charm. With a little help from the Montana rancher and his mail order bride.’

  ‘Auntie still making you crazy?’ He nodded to the earplugs.

  ‘You have no idea.’

  ‘Did you say you were taking her to Oregon? Quite a trip to volunteer for.’

  ‘I was drafted.’

  He leaned in close. ‘I can help make it easier, if you’d like.’

  Her insides jumped, and she bumped into the man ahead of her again, who shot her a caustic look.

  Two more cashiers joined the fat lady, and Wank Man moved to a shorter line. ‘Keep my offer in mind,’ he said. ‘It could come in handy.’

  Clutching her goodies, she offered him a polite smile, with thoughts of just how he might go about making the trip easier shoving their way into her head, and her panties.

  No food had been ordered for her when she slid into the booth at the diner where Sally was nibbling daintily at pasta primavera and Aunt Rose was just sending back her steak after berating the waitress for it being over cooked.

  Sally watched as the poor waitress rushed off with Aunt Rose’s unsatisfactory steak. ‘Sorry, Val, but Aunt Rose said to wait to order for you till you got here ’cause she says cold French fries give you gas.’

  The couple at the table next to them looked up and quickly turned their attention back to their meals pretending not to listen.

  ‘It’s true,’ Aunt Rose said. ‘Terrible gas. And that car of yours is awfully small, what with me having to sit next to you and all, better not take chances.’

  Val slumped down into the seat and tried to hide behind her menu while Aunt Rose added another packet of sugar to her iced tea, and flipped through her ever present copy of The National Enquirer.

  Aunt Rose and Sally had just begun the pregnancy war stories competition when Val noticed Wank Man standing by the hall that led to the restrooms. Once he had her attention, he motioned her toward the back.

  With her heart summersaulting, Val excused herself to go wash up just as the confused waitress approached.

  In the dark hallway between the restrooms, Wank Man stood with one well-muscled bicep draped over the cigarette machine, which caused the faded T-shirt to ride up just enough to give her a tantalizing view of his navel peeking out above the low ride of his jeans.

  ‘What do you want?’ she whispered, glancing back over her shoulder like a naughty child.

  ‘I want to make it up to you,’ he said. ‘You know, I was a bit … premature, at the rest area.’ He shrugged. ‘Though you did order me to let rip. But I certainly would have been more than happy to reciprocate if your aunt hadn’t interrupted our rendezvous.’

  Val moved closer to him to make room for the mother and her toddler who squeezed past them making pee-pee talk on their way to the ladies.

  ‘We can’t do it here, can we?’ she hissed.

  ‘Got a good place all picked out,’ he said, raking her with his electric blue gaze.

  ‘And what about them?’ She jerked her head back to where she could hear Aunt Rose talking about the terrible acid reflux she had when she was pregnant with her Harry.

  He stepped still closer. ‘I’m wagering she’ll send the steak back at least one more time. And didn’t I see a copy of People Magazine on the table next to that National Enquirer?’

  Just then Sally’s phone rang and he offered a satisfied nod. ‘That will be the frantic father of the little darlings in the middle of a crisis, and it’s not likely to be a crisis that will be solved until at least dessert. Poor man. He’s way out of his depth.’ He crowded closer to her, closer than was actually necessary as a trucker pushed past them into the men’s room. ‘I’m guessing I can get you there very nicely and back in time for dessert if you’d like.’

  He shifted so she could see the bulge in his jeans, then twirled a strand of her hair around a deliciously thick finger. ‘Of course if you want to skip dessert, I can get you there even bette
r.’

  Her heart raced. ‘I hardly know you and you want me to fuck you?’

  He leaned in close and nibbled her earlobe, then the nape of her neck, causing a shudder to run down her spine right into her pussy.

  ‘There are lots of delicious ways to get you there that don’t involve fucking sweet cheeks. Yummy, juicy, sizzling ways.’

  ‘And what will I tell them,’ she asked when she could manage enough breath to speak.

  He nipped her again. ‘You’ll think of something.’

  Strangely enough neither Aunt Rose nor Sally seemed suspicious, or even over solicitous when she excused herself without eating. She said she had a headache and wanted to go back to the car and rest a bit. She insisted that they take their time and enjoy their meal, have dessert, have coffee, enjoy their magazines.

  Wank Man was waiting just outside the door of the diner. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the restaurant at a fast trot toward a bright red 18-wheeler that looked as though it had just been washed and waxed.

  ‘Your truck?’ Val asked.

  ‘The company’s truck. I get to use it.’ He opened the door on the passenger side and placing his large hands on her hips, hoisted her in.

  She barely had time to notice the spotless interior before he heaved himself into the seat next to her and shut the door behind him. ‘This is the best bit.’ He pushed aside the plush blue curtain to reveal the sleeping compartment.

  The inside of the sleeper made her think of the tent of a rich Bedouin. It was all decked out with mountains of plush pillows and tapestries that perfectly covered each of the interior walls. It smelled of sandalwood and maleness.

  ‘And you want me to get in there with you?’ Her voice sounded breathless, it sounded almost as nervous as she felt.

  ‘That was my plan.’ He sounded no less breathless.

  ‘I don’t even know your name.’