Awakening Veronica [Divine Creek Ranch 17] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

  Emboldened by their lack of reaction, Brent smiled at her. “I’m not giving up this easily, Chubbs. You know me,” Haygard said in an odd, deep, monotone voice.

  Hank chuckled. “Is that your Dom voice, Haygard? Is that what you think makes a submissive quiver with the desire to submit?”

  The bastard looked up at Hank with surprise and then glowered at him. “It’s worked in the past.”

  Hank laughed out loud. “I know Doms that would have you pissing your pants in fear.”

  “I’m not leaving without Veronica.” Haygard muttered. “I didn’t come all this way for nothin’.”

  “Yeah, ya did.” Travis growled as he assisted the rotund turd to his feet as several pairs of headlights turned up the driveway. “Looks like the only way you’re leaving is in the custody of a deputy. I wouldn’t push your luck.”

  Hank said, “Haygard, this is your one chance to move on. Make any more trouble and I get to do a shitload of paperwork. You keep pushing, and all that paperwork is going to be worth it. Veronica wants you out of her life. It’s that simple. In Billings, she didn’t have anyone to defend her. Here in Divine, she has an entire community behind her.”

  “Whatever,” Haygard ground out. “This ain’t over.”

  Hank got up in his face. “Leave Veronica alone.”

  “No. She’s mine. I love her.”

  “You’re tempting me, Haygard. Real men don’t hit the women they love.”

  Haygard grinned at him. “If you know what a Dom is, then you know that’s not true.”

  Travis grabbed hold of his shirt collar and said, “Shit-for-brains, you don’t know what you’re talking about. No self-respecting Dom would freeload off of his sub the way you have. You just want your gravy train back. The fact that you call yourself a Dom is an insult to people who know what that term really means.”

  Haygard’s smile gave his eyes a reptilian chill. “You a Dom? That the reason you think you know everything? You planning to dominate my woman? Over my dead fucking body.”

  A metallic click sounded from the porch and in an equally cold voice, Grandma Kate said, “I can arrange that, Bubba.” Gripped securely in her hands was a pearl-handled Colt .45, pointed safely at the ground but held at the ready.

  “Whoa.” Hank lifted a placating hand to Grandma Kate. “How did you find out about this, Grandma Kate?”

  “That adorable Wyatt called the house to let Jack know, since he knew Veronica is my relative.”

  “Ma’am, last thing I want is to explain to Adam Kendall that I had to disarm his sweet little granny. Now, we’ve got this under control. Please don’t make me have to make that call and fill out all that paperwork.”

  Wyatt and Simon came running up, carefully skirting Grandma Kate as she lowered her weapon and nodded at them but kept her eyes on Brent, whom she’d referred to as Bubba. Hank smiled as he recalled her words at the wedding. Bubba, the knuckle-dragger. That was how she’d referred to him.

  “Poacher. That’s what you are. A fucking sub-poacher.” Haygard accused as both men closed in on either side of him.

  Veronica was close enough that she’d heard what he said, and in a firm voice, she said, “I’m not your sub, Brent. And you’re not a Dom. You’re an abusive bastard.”

  “Yeah, Brent,” Hank said with a satisfied grin. “But Veronica is most definitely a sub, and we’re her Doms.”

  * * * *

  “So Ace and Kemp paid Brent a visit?” Jack asked and then burst into laughter at the full dining room table on Thanksgiving afternoon. Everyone joined him, including Veronica.

  Hank held her hand underneath the table and he glanced at her, enjoying the way her cheeks flushed while Travis told the story as he sat on her other side.

  “Yeah. When I told Ace what had happened, he told me that he considered it his duty to pay Brent Haygard a visit. They caught up with him when he arrived at the impound lot to pick up his truck. They took him for a little ride and had a heart-to-heart talk with him that involved him swearing to move out of the apartment and to never contact Veronica again. I’m not sure if that promise came before or after he pissed himself. Oh, sorry, ladies. Sorry, Grandma Kate.”

  The wizened lady grinned and waved her hand as she rocked with laughter in her seat. “Sometimes it takes more than the standard means for pressing the point home. Was he able to walk away from the situation with a better understanding of how bullies are dealt with here?”

  Travis said, “Not only did he have a better understanding, he swore that he would move out, he would clean the apartment from top to bottom, and he would repair any damage done in Veronica’s absence. They told him about two of Kemp’s friends who live in Montana—near Billings as a matter of fact. These friends have personally guaranteed they will check in regularly until he turns in the keys to the landlord, and that they will follow up in the future to make sure he understood that we we’re serious. Kemp mentioned also that it was a shame Haygard was as hairy as he was because duct tape hurts even worse when you pull hair out with it.”

  Veronica choked on her wine and giggled with the rest of the group. “That’s disgusting!”

  Grace suddenly lurched from her chair and made a dash for the hall bathroom. All was silent for a few seconds and then Grandma Kate nodded and shook a finger in the air and said, “I knew something was off the last few days.” The expression on her face was jubilant and matched the look that suddenly crossed Grace’s sister Charity’s face.

  In confusion, Hank looked at Jack, Adam, and Ethan, and noted the incongruous grins on their face.

  “What?” Veronica asked as they chuckled.

  Little Rose Marie craned her neck and looked down the hall. “Where’s Mama?”

  Grace returned to the table a minute later and looked apologetically at her men and the rest of her group. “I guess there’s no need to make an announcement anymore, huh?”

  “You’re pregnant!” Charity jubilantly crowed. “I’m gonna be an Auntie again. When’s this baby due?”

  Rose Marie’s jaw dropped open and she shrieked, “Baby? I’m the baby!” Her little lip trembled and then the gigantic tears began to fall. “I’m the baby!”

  Grace smiled and stroked her little girl. “Rosie, honey, you’ll always be my baby.”

  Rose Marie slid out a big poochy lower lip and looked at her daddies. “I’m the baby.” She climbed into Grace’s lap, accidentally putting her knees in Grace’s middle. Grace flinched and suddenly turned a little green as she tried to hold it together.

  Poor Grace.

  Ethan pushed his chair back and softly said, “Rose Marie, come here, please.”

  Rose Marie’s eyes widened and she sucked her lip as she climbed down and slowly went to Ethan. He lifted her into his lap and spoke softly. “Mommy feels sick, so I’m going to hold you for a bit. You will always be our baby. Always. But you are going to be a big sister, too. No more fussing.”

  Rose Marie took a deep breath as Ethan spoke in that steady, controlled tone, which Hank recognized as the tone of a Dominant. She leaned against his chest and looked up at him with big green eyes. “Is it a girl baby?”

  Ethan stroked her little cheek with a fingertip. “We don’t know yet, but whether it’s a boy or a girl, they’re going to need their big sister to watch over them.”

  “Where’s the baby?”

  “In Mommy’s tummy for right now.”

  A horrified look crossed Rose Marie’s face as she gaped at her mother. “Mommy! You ate the baby?”

  Everyone burst into laughter as Ethan gave Rose Marie a simple explanation to satisfy her curiosity and dispelled that notion. The rest of the meal was relatively calm.

  Afterward, Grandma Kate joined Hank and Travis at the windows by the back door, looking out over the ranch and the horse barns. Veronica sat in the living room with Grace and Rose Marie where they were decorating the Christmas tree. Hank was looking forward to picking out a Christmas tree with their woman that weekend. He saw the satis
faction in Grandma Kate’s eyes as she asked, “I was right about the two of you, wasn’t I?”

  “In what sense, Grandma Kate?” Hank asked.

  She crossed her arms in front of her, mirroring their stance and looking out the windows as well. “So much of Veronica’s life was online and she was so sequestered in her bleak apartment.” She gestured out the window with a delicate, wizened hand. “She’s discovering the beauty and life outside the windows on her world. She has you to thank for that.”

  Hank put an arm around Grandma Kate’s shoulders and said, “Ma’am, we have you to thank for bringing her here. If you hadn’t done that, we’d still be living only half lives, walking into cold, dark homes every night.”

  Kate smiled, her gaze on a distant point. “I do believe these things have a way of working out. Is there anything you wanted to ask me about?”

  “As a matter of fact there is, ma’am,” Hank said as he and Travis shared a glance.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Okay, I think that should stay on, Travis. Let me put the headband on now,” Veronica said as she tugged on Travis’s wig and nodded. “Team Flashdance is going to be a hit.”

  Travis squirmed in his neon pink tights and multicolored leotard, pulling the seam out of his butt crack again with a groan. “Nika, how do you ladies put up with these things?” The back of the leotard wasn’t big enough to cover his whole ass and he felt so exposed.

  Veronica giggled and moved behind him. “It looks fine. The tights cover you so don’t worry about the leotard. Even though it’s not technically part of the Flashdance costume, the tutu will cover your butt, too. I couldn’t have every woman in Divine ogling your fine physiques. You look fantastic. I’ll probably have to keep beating all your admirers off of you.”

  “Does this leotard make my butt look big?” Hank asked with a snicker as he stepped into the bathroom doorway and flexed his biceps while he turned and displayed himself. Travis tossed him his long curly red wig and lisped, “Pink is your color, big boy.”

  Veronica snorted as she adjusted the Velcro tape on the pink net tutu around Travis’s waist and said, “You guys are being such good sports with this charity event. I wondered if you’d go through with it.” She tugged Hank’s wig onto his head nice and straight and then slid on the neon pink headband so it sat across his forehead, same as Travis.

  As she used a makeup brush to turn their cheeks bright pink, she asked, “Any chance I could get a picture with you in our costumes?”

  Travis scoffed. “I suppose. Pretty soon, everyone in Divine is going to see us in drag. Might as well immortalize the moment.”

  “It’s for such a good cause, too,” she said as she fixed their lips and then brushed on bright blue eye shadow.

  “A boy’s ranch, huh?”

  Hank nodded as he tugged down his wig. “Yup. Emma told me they’ll be able to break ground on the boy’s ranch house in the spring, thanks to the good response to this fundraiser. The boys will have a chance to learn life skills, as well as how to ranch, hunt, fish, and how to cook, too. Some of those boys have never had anyone give a damn about whether they learned anything. That ranch is going to have a huge impact on a lot of kids.”

  “Sounds like it,” Travis said as he yanked at the tights because they were pulling at the hair on his legs and then put on his sneakers. “They have instructors lined up?”

  Hank said, “I don’t know yet. Emma might know, since she’s friends with the organizers. You know…you might enjoy working with them.”

  Travis nodded. “I wonder if they take volunteers?”

  Veronica fixed her cheeks and lips as she said, “I’m sure they would, Travis. Boy, talk about a way to make a difference in someone’s life.” She smiled at him in the mirror as she applied her blue eye shadow and then backed up so she could see all three of them in the mirror and struck a pose. “We look awesome!”

  Hank squirmed comically and tugged on the crotch of the leotard and pushed the tutu down. “We look idiotic. You look awesome. You made us very pretty…and pink. Would it be okay if I went and put my boxers on? I feel like my business is exposed.”

  Veronica burst into laughter and said, “No. You look perfect. The print on the leotard completely camouflages your manly bits and the tutu is long enough to cover, too.”

  Travis adjusted his leotard again and said, “You know this silky fabric feels kind of nice. I wonder if we can find underwear made out of this stuff.”

  Veronica leered and said, “Now I know what to get you for Christmas.”

  “Yeah, just make sure they’re black and not neon pink.” Hank growled before kissing her. “Time’s wasting. Let’s go get this over with so I can change back into my uniform for the party downtown.”

  She took one last look at the two of them, and Travis could see the emotion in her eyes. “I love you men so much. Let’s do this.”

  Travis growled as she bent over and picked up the bag with her change of clothes in it. Her tutu was shorter than theirs and he liked the view of her curvaceous ass. His cock tingled and he glanced at Hank and said, “You know, we’re going to have to rein in the inner horndogs or everyone in Divine is going to have visible proof of how we feel about Nika.”

  Hank drew a deep breath and nodded. “That’s no lie.” He popped Nika on her fanny when she waggled it at them.

  They found a parking spot a block away from where the race was set to start and Travis thought he and Hank did an admirable job of laughing with everyone else as all the participants began arriving in costume.

  Wheelchairs were set up in a row across Main Street. The race route encircling Central Park downtown had been blocked off to through traffic.

  Each team was comprised of a female wheelchair passenger, and two runners. The first runner had to circle half the city block Central Park was located on with their passenger, hand her off to the second team member to continue the route around the block, and then haul ass back to their starting spot for the second lap and then go again and hand her off again. The key was getting back to the starting position in time for the second leg of the race so the passenger wasn’t left there waiting.

  The runners were strictly prohibited from running across the park to get back to their starting point in time but Travis had it on good authority that they had several cheaters in their midst.

  Bastards.

  He chuckled as he stretched, watching Quinten Parks and Ben Lawrence walk up with their wife, Camilla, who was pushing a double baby stroller. The babies, James and Joshua, were dressed as tiny Cowardly Lions in little lion warm-up suits, complete with mittens and lion’s mane hoods to complement Team Dorothy. Both men and Camilla were dressed in blue gingham dresses, red sneakers, and braided pigtail wigs. Travis was grateful for the tights, because Ben’s hairy legs encased in white schoolgirl knee socks was just wrong.

  Quinten started flexing and prancing around like a boxer when he got a look at Hank and Travis. “Hey, Team Flashdance! You’re going down!” He turned to stretch and flashed his white bloomers at them and yelped when Camilla snuck up behind him and smacked his butt.

  Veronica greeted Camilla and made a fuss over the babies while Hank and Travis visited with Ben and Quinten.

  Team Edna arrived next, comprised of Duke Rivers, Gage Randall, and Emma Rivers dressed as Edna Mode from The Incredibles, in dark, blunt cut wigs, big dark-framed glasses, and black minidresses. Travis wished now that he’d gotten black tights, too. Team Edna was almost too sexy in their garb. Duke fluffed his wig and blew Travis a kiss and lifted his hem to show a little more flank. He nodded and winked. “You want this, I know you do.” The fact that Duke sported a black scruffy beard made it all the funnier.

  Hank fist bumped with Travis. “Don’t let him get in your head, Fishcop. We can take them.”

  Because Grace’s nausea was still acting up, Grandma Kate was standing in as the wheelchair passenger with Ethan and Adam as part of Team Annie Oakley.

  Hank was a little alar
med at this development, but Grandma Kate assured him that she would be secure in the chair and she was absolutely certain that neither Ethan nor Adam would run her into a drainage ditch. He snapped a picture of her with Adam and Ethan in their Annie Oakley costumes, complete with cowgirl hats, skirts, boots, and six-shooters. Ethan and Adam were also sporting the hairy leg, knobby-kneed look and Hank chuckled evilly as he wondered aloud if Adam Kendall was aware of his Grannie’s shenanigans. He texted the picture to Lusty’s sheriff with a brief message.

  Hank elbowed Travis. “Wearin’ boots to a relay race. We can take them easy.”

  Charity Connors and her husband, Justin showed up, and Travis got worried they had stiff competition until Charity told Veronica that they weren’t participating in the race. They had friends riding into town and there was a special surprise planned for them that she wanted to be available for.

  Charity smirked and added, “That, and I knew there was no way I could talk the guys into a miniskirt. I was thinking Team Tina Turner, but no.” Travis and Hank laughed when Justin shook his head in a clear “Hell, no.” Travis could respect that. Plus, if they’d found a second runner, they would’ve given Team Flashdance a run for their money.

  Cody Welsh and Heath Lindsey arrived with Maizy, proudly representing Team Runaway Bride. Hank and Travis went over to size them up and Cody and Heath flexed their pecs over their décolletage and showed off their biceps.

  Hank took a turn around them and asked, “Where’d you find dresses to fit yourselves?”

  Cody waved to the gathering crowd as he said, “The Goodwill store. Maizy stapled us into them this morning. “He turned so Travis could see that the backs were wide open, with white material stapled into the edges to hold them in place, because there was no way any of those dresses would’ve fit otherwise.

  Heath pouted and said, “I’d have been content running in a long dress but Maizy-girl said we needed to go sexy, so she got after us with the scissors once we were dressed. Can you believe that?” he asked, displaying his legs, bared to the lower thigh and encased in sheer white tights. Maizy greeted him and Hank as she helped them get their billowy white veils on their heads.