by BJ Wane
“Just reiterating before I do this.” Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the silky blindfold and held it up. Immediate denial flashed in those golden eyes as she stepped back and her heel nudged the wall.
“I don’t think…”
Dan stopped her with a finger pressed to her lips. “I don’t want you to think, only feel, and trust. You have your safewords, and you know I’ll honor them, even listen for them.” He didn’t wait for her to say anything else or give her time to fret over it. Lifting the soft, black cloth, he wrapped it around her eyes and then clasped her face, tightening his hands as he tilted her head back and took her mouth in a long, thorough kiss. Her low moan slithered down his throat as he dueled with her tongue, enjoying the way she matched him stroke for stroke as she pressed against him.
But her distraction from the darkness only lasted until he lifted his head. Dan could feel her heart pounding against his chest as her breathing turned to panicked pants. Putting his lips to her ear, he commanded, “Listen, Nan. Where are you?”
She bit her lip, straining to hear. He knew the second she caught Tamara’s voice coming from the wooden A frame a few feet from them. “The Barn,” she answered on a relieved sigh.
“Who are you with?” Taking his hands from her face, he traced down her back and gripped the rounded globes of her ass. “Who loves this ass, knows just how hard you like to be spanked, how much you enjoy anal play?”
A shiver racked her body. “You, Sir.”
“Say my name.” He slid a finger between her buttocks and teased her back entrance.
“Master Dan… please.”
“Not yet.” With a jerk of his head, Dan beckoned Greg and Devin over. “We want to make sure you’re not thinking about any other place but here, nothing else or anyone else except us.”
His friends wasted no time adding their hands and mouths to his as Nan gasped, “Us?”
Dan teased her mouth with his. “Yes. Master Greg and Master Devin want a chance to make-up for last time. You’re not going to deny them that, are you?”
She might be a wimp about the dark still, but she wasn’t an idiot, Nan mused. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Sirs.”
Master Dan’s deep chuckle against her lips drew tingles down her spine, his praise sent heat straight up her pussy. “That’s my girl.”
Hands, so many hands, touched and teased, fingers plucked at her nipples and played around the seam of her aching vagina. Lips trailed kisses along her arched neck and suckled her puckered nipples. Teeth nipped, bit and scraped over her warming skin and tongues soothed the painful pinpricks left behind. Bright colors swirled behind the blindfold as pleasure spiked and arousal pulsed deep inside her womb, obliterating the darkness. Nan leaned her head back and jutted her pelvis forward, a silent plea for more. Deep, male laughs echoed around her, adding to the roaring in her head drowning out all other sound.
“Shit!” she exclaimed when those lust provoking fingers on her labia refused to slide inside her.
“Tsk, tsk.” Master Greg’s admonishing taunt followed with a slow, tight squeeze of both nipples that pulled a gasp from her and drew a drip of cream from her pussy.
“I think your girl needs a reminder of manners.”
Nan recognized Master Devin’s voice and assumed it was his hard hand that swatted her buttocks, but it was Gerard’s cold tone she heard, his cruel words that penetrated. I think you need a more forceful lesson on manners, slave. Without warning, a quick flashback to that damp, dark cellar pushed to the surface, the memory of the fiery pain of skin splitting under the lash of Gerard’s whip overriding the pulsing pleasure.
“Sir.” The plea came out in a whimper and resulted in the immediate cessation of touch. Her frustration was followed by a sigh as she recognized the stroke of the thin crop down her back and Master Dan’s voice in her ear.
“Where are you, Nan? Who are you with?”
His dark, commanding voice swept away the past and her misgivings, returned her to the present and resumed the pounding ache for more. “Here, with you.”
“Yes, me.” He snapped the crop across her buttocks, the quick slice of pain forcing her hips forward, right into the return of hands on her flesh.
“Yes,” she cried in exultation as fingers thrust inside her with the next blistering slash. Hands molded the fleshy undersides of her breasts as two mouths covered her nipples and drew on the taut buds with strong suctions. Another stroke cut into the under curve of her cheeks as Greg and Devin pulled up on her nipples, elongating the tips before releasing them with a plop that shook her and the fleshy mounds.
“She’s gripping my fingers,” Devin’s voice warned above her head as Dan struck her buttocks again. “If she gets any wetter or tighter, it’ll be as she comes.”
“Can’t have that. Not yet.”
Master Dan’s words didn’t penetrate the haze of arousal clouding her senses until he whipped off the blindfold as Masters Greg and Devin dropped their hands and moved back. Confusion and frustration had her gasping, “What?” as her freed arms dropped around Dan’s shoulders and he hauled her against him, striding toward the stairs without comment until he reached the back sliding doors.
The sudden waft of cooler night air chilled Nan’s sweat-damp skin until he bent her over the rail and sank into her pussy from behind. The first thrust resulted in an orgasmic burst of pleasure as he leaned over her and his deep voice whispered in her ear. “Welcome back, Nan.”
One after another, multiple orgasms rolled through her, unraveling so fast they took her breath away, each as welcome as the sun after a storm. The pounding surge of climaxes matched the driving plunges of his cock, drenching her in sensation as her muscles squeezed and massaged his thick girth. Nan lifted her head and gazed out into the night, wondering where they would go from here, because, God help her, she didn’t want this to end.
Chapter 13
Nan glanced at the time and groaned, rolling out from under Dan. “I gotta go,” she said with regret. “I’m opening early and closing by noon for the fair.”
Dan sat up and the sheet pooled around his hips, her mouth watering as she gazed at his thick chest and the swirl of brown curls she remembered tickling her nipples all night. “I have to get moving, too.” Dissatisfaction darkened his eyes as he stood and hauled her against him. “We need to talk, soon.”
A lump formed in her throat. Other than him insisting she return to his bed last night, he hadn’t said, or hinted at where he wanted to go from here. With no other choice, she would take that as a positive sign until he said or did something otherwise. Nodding, she schooled her features to hide the flare of hope his words instigated. “I agree, but I don’t have time now.”
“Grayson and I volunteered our horses at the adult riding ring. Meet me there after you close.”
“Sounds good.” She leaned up and kissed him before grabbing her clothes and dashing into the bathroom.
To her relief, Dan was already out doing chores when she skipped downstairs and went to her car. By the time she was rushing upstairs to her apartment to change clothes, she only had ten minutes to spare before she opened at the time advertised for this morning. Pulling out her phone, she punched in the number to the diner and placed an order to go, wincing when Barbara replied it would be at least an hour due to the crowd.
“Okay. Just stick it under the warmer until I get there. I’m expecting a crowd, too. Thanks.”
Nan’s harried start to the day didn’t get any better as the morning progressed. As much as she enjoyed her customers, and meeting new people who took the time to visit her tea shop before going to the fairgrounds, today she would rather be with Dan. She intended to tell him, point blank, how she felt, where she wanted to go from here with him, and only him. If he wasn’t of like mind, she would deal with it. Her stomach cramped as she imagined going back to their prior relationship but she refused to think further on that possibility. One thing at a time, she lectured herself, carrying two filled cups over
to a table.
“Here you go. I know you’ll enjoy the cranberry orange,” she told the older couple whose brand-new cowboy hats and western shirts screamed tourists.
“Thank you, dear. I just love this little town and can’t wait to ride a horse for the first time when we get to the fair.”
“You’ll have fun,” Nan assured her, unable to imagine never having ridden at that age. The bell over the door pealed and Alice entered carrying a to-go bag from the diner. “Excuse me,” she said as Alice came toward her.
Holding up the bag, she smiled and handed it to Nan. “Willa and I were just finishing breakfast when your order came up. Since we were leaving and coming right by here on the way to the library, I sent Willa on and offered to run it in to you.”
Nan took the bag with a smile of gratitude. “Thank you so much, Alice. I’m starving but couldn’t get away yet.”
“You’re welcome. Will you be going to the fair this afternoon?”
“Yes, shortly. How about you?”
“I’m planning on it. Maybe I’ll see you over there.”
“Great, and thanks again,” Nan said as a customer called for the check. Turning, she hurried to set the bag behind the counter, missing the satisfied smirk curling Alice’s lips as she left.
It was over an hour later before Nan could flip the closed sign around after the last person left and she could load up the rest of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Her stomach rumbled, a reminder she hadn’t taken the time to eat yet. Flipping open the lid of the Styrofoam container holding the order of biscuits and gravy from the diner, she grabbed a fork and scooped up a bite with one hand while reaching for another cup to put in the dishwasher with the other. “Oh, God, that tastes good,” she mumbled. But before she could take another bite, a group of teenaged boys went running by, whooping it up as they rapped on the front windows, startling her. Nan jumped at the sudden noise, her arm knocking the flat box off the counter to land upside down at her feet.
“Crap!” Looking down at the mess, she felt like stomping her foot in frustration. Not only did she lose her meal, but now she had to take the time to clean up the mess, another delay before she could meet up with Dan.
Nan pulled into the designated parking area at the fairgrounds outside of town thirty minutes later, waving to Sydney and Tamara who stood in line with their husbands for one of the wilder amusement rides. A sudden wave of dizziness assailed her as she wound through the crowd, making her way to the opposite side of the rides, games and food carts toward the riding rings. She stumbled to a stop, bracing a hand on a picnic table and one on her stomach as a cramp threatened to buckle her knees.
“Hey, miss, you okay?” a young cowhand stopped to ask, the girl at his side looking at her with concern.
“Fine, thanks. Just the sun and crowd on an empty stomach, I think. Go ahead, enjoy your day.” Taking a deep breath, Nan waited a minute after the young couple moved on, letting her stomach settle before taking off again. She spotted Dan’s tall form next to his steed, Tank, just inside a makeshift corral, Grayson standing next to him with his stallion. The two of them conversed as they kept watch on the other two horses trotting around in a wide loop carrying amateur riders.
Neither man heard her as she walked up trying desperately to ignore another wave of nausea, but their voices reached her clear as a bell from several feet away, much to her dismay. A tight clutch gripped her chest as the sheriff asked the very question she intended to pose to Dan.
“I saw you leave with Nan again last night. Are you two going to stay with your new arrangement now that she’s coping better?” Grayson spoke around the toothpick nestled in the corner of his mouth, his look inquiring.
Nan sucked in a breath against another abdominal cramp and dizzying blur, straining to hear Dan’s answer over the noise.
Dan stiffened in hesitation before replying, “I’m just helping a friend through a tough time. Let’s leave it at that for now.”
Disappointment and regret swamped her, adding to the bile threatening to rise to her throat. She stumbled back then spun around to leave before they saw her. Given the state she was in, she wouldn’t be able to hide her emotions from either man’s astute gaze. Moving as fast as her upset stomach allowed, she made it halfway back to the parking lot before sickness forced her to sink down onto the nearest bench. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, which pissed her off. She’d never wept over a man and didn’t intend to start now. But, God, his words hurt, the pain making her realize how much she cared, how deep her longing for more with Dan went.
Alice appeared at her side unexpectedly, wearing a concerned frown. “Here, Nan, let me help you. Goodness, you’re white as a sheet.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Alice’s free hand went to Nan’s head, checking for a fever. “You’re not warm. In fact, you feel cool, considering the warm afternoon.”
The conciliatory words and tone bounced off Nan’s misery and she didn’t have the strength or willpower to say no when Alice helped her to her feet and guided her over to her parked car.
“Let me drive you to the clinic, dear, before you collapse. Why, you’re shaking like a leaf,” she crooned, opening the passenger door on a small coupe.
Something wasn’t registering right, but Nan couldn’t pinpoint what it was through the pounding of her head, the nausea threatening to come up and the pain encompassing her heart. Not until she roused enough to notice Alice was driving away from Willow Springs at a fast clip.
“Alice…” She struggled to sit up against the tight confines of the seatbelt.
“Shut up, bitch,” the older woman snarled in a hateful voice Nan didn’t recognize. “I need to think. If only you would have cooperated with my plans, I could be on my way home by now.”
Confusion and a kernel of fear added to Nan’s misery. “What are you talking about…” And then, like a flick of a light switch, enlightenment dawned and she squinted her blurry eyes. “You? You’re behind all the strange things happening to me, aren’t you?”
“Give the girl a prize,” Alice sneered, pressing harder on the accelerator. “I hoped I put enough Visine in the brownies to at least put you in a coma. That would have been enough to delay Gerard’s trial until I could finish the job or get someone to finish it for me.”
Nan was trying to assimilate what Alice was saying, but only two words registered, both confusing her more. “Visine? Gerard? Who are you?”
Shaking her head, Alice gripped the steering wheel and the cold eyes she leveled on Nan answered one question. “Shit, you’re Gerard’s mother.” And as much of a whack-a-doodle as her son, it appeared. Why hadn’t she caught the resemblance before? There was no mistaking who her son had inherited his cold black eyes from.
“Damn right, and no one hurts my boy, especially not some two-bit floozy.” She chuckled, the sound of pure evil raising the hairs on Nan’s arms. “Research was so easy. Visine. Who would ever think such a product could be so dangerous if ingested? It’s the tetrahydrozoline that can render someone incapacitated, make them so sick.” She frowned and her mouth twisted into an ugly sneer. “Why didn’t you eat the brownies? I made sure to add a large enough dose to put you in the hospital.”
“I did.” And then Nan remembered getting violently ill, throwing everything up just minutes upon waking, right after Dan had arrived. At the time she’d thought it odd since she’d been holding her alcohol since college. The combination of bourbon and the tainted brownies must have been enough to purge herself of the possible poisonous effects. A slow rage started to unfurl deep inside her as the puzzling incidents of the past weeks came rushing back. “You picked up my purse, copied my key and put it back. Did you poison my yogurt and the biscuits and gravy?” The image of the poor tom cat popped into her head, but at least something good had come from spilling the diner order earlier. One bite shouldn’t have any detrimental or lasting effects.
“And yet here you still are.” Alice wanted to cackle with glee. The shock and anger turning
Nan’s face red was priceless. Now, if she could just figure out where to dump her body, she could get back to her precious son who didn’t deserve to go to jail because of this bitch. “I have to tell you, that scene in the library was priceless. It couldn’t have gone better if I had planned that one. Instead, you fell right into the role of a muddled head case. It took you long enough to change your lock. Everyone in this town is way too trusting. Idiots,” she scoffed.
“Willa certainly is. How did you manage that?”
She chuckled. “That was easy. I kept tabs on you in New Orleans and knew as soon as you boarded a plane for home. Thanks to you telling my son all about your hometown and your love of reading, I knew where you were going and had some way to ingratiate myself into your life. I learned about the librarian’s luncheon in Billings before leaving Louisiana and winged it arranging to meet the Willow Springs librarian. Where does that road go?” She pointed to the right at the upcoming intersection.
Nan wasn’t about to help her. In fact, she didn’t plan on riding along with the raving lunatic much farther. Enough of this bullshit. She was done with the Avets controlling her life and she saw her opportunity as Alice slowed to take the turn.
“Nowhere I’m going with you, you deranged psychopath.” Pressing the release on the seatbelt, she lunged across the seat, reaching for the steering wheel to yank the car into the field. She hadn’t counted on the gun, or the blow to her temple that stunned her into seeing stars as she fell back against the seat.
Pete knew he was making a mistake yet found himself helpless to turn around and return to the ranch. He owed Dan a debt of gratitude for giving him a second chance once he was released from prison and the army, one he would have had trouble repaying before he let the nightmares get the best of him this morning. If he didn’t find the strength to veer from this course, he would never get the chance to not only repay his boss but start a future as his permanent employee. Guilt gnawed at his gut as he drove toward Billings, and the connection to drugs he had made. He couldn’t fight it anymore, couldn’t get through the day without the peaceful oblivion the drugs offered from the screams of the dying he’d been powerless to help.
