by Carol Lynne
No words were needed between him and Ryker about what they’d experienced because they both already knew. Ryker finally pulled back and smiled. “Sorry to interrupt this Lovefest, but I need to go take care of something.” He reached down and held onto the condom as he slipped from Ranger’s body.
He watched him disappear into the bathroom as he continued to stroke the soft skin of Lilly’s lower back. “It’s been one hell of a night.” Suddenly remembering everything Lilly had been through, he felt ashamed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m more than okay, I’m feeling fabulous.” Her face became serious and she kissed his chin. “Jeff can’t touch me, not where it matters. My heart is so full it can’t be tainted by what anyone else says or does. I have you and Ryker to thank for that.”
Before he could say anything, Ryker was standing over him with a warm washcloth. He tenderly cleaned Lilly’s hand and his stomach before moving down to clean his tender ass. Ryker tossed the rag and climbed back into bed.
Pulling the covers up around them, Ryker yawned. “Let’s take a little power nap.”
It had been a long hard day on all of them and the bliss of sleep overtook them in minutes.
* * * *
The alarm woke them the next morning. Ranger reached over and slapped at the clock until it finally shut off. He looked at the two people in his arms and smiled. He couldn’t believe they were all still in the same position. They must’ve been dead to the world all night long.
Without opening his eyes, Ryker grumbled, “How long before we have to get up?”
“Well, eventually we’re going to have to get up for food and water, but I don’t see that happening for several hours.”
That had Ryker’s head popping up off his chest. “What? We’re playing hooky?”
“Yep. I’ve got a woman to make love to this morning and I have a feeling I won’t be satisfied with just one round.” Ranger grinned as Lilly perked up.
“Cool,” she said with a grin.
Ryker released his hold on Ranger to retrieve a wrapped condom from the floor where’d they dropped the strip the previous night. As Ryker handed it to him he got the cutest little boy grin on his face. “Can I ride when Lilly’s done?”
Ranger smacked him on the ass with one hand as he took the foil packet with the other. “I’m not a damn horse.”
Laughing, Ryker looked down at Ranger’s hard shaft. “I’m not so sure.”
Shaking his head, Ranger rolled the condom on before he stretched out over Lilly. Starting with her lips, he licked and teased his way to her swollen nipples. Latching on, Ranger suckled as he reached out and pulled Ryker against them. He glanced up and released the nipple to join the twosome in a three-way kiss. “You love these beautiful breasts while I explore.”
Nodding, Ryker broke the kiss and replaced Ranger’s mouth on the still wet nipple. Hearing Lilly’s moan, Ranger moved down between her legs. He ran his tongue over the soft lips of her sex before parting them with his fingers. Now open to his gaze and mouth, Ranger moaned. So perfect, every inch of Lilly was like an artist’s rendition of the perfect woman.
With temptation this close, it didn’t take him long to stop admiring and start loving. He ran his tongue around the delicate fleshy folds of her pussy, grunting when a drop of cream dripped down the crack of her ass. Not wanting anything to go to waste, Ranger ran his tongue up the tight crevice catching the river of essence now streaming toward his open mouth. With a lick up to her clit, he took the tiny swollen bundle of nerves between his teeth and bit down enough to drive Lilly crazy. Her hips bucked toward his face as she begged him to fuck her.
“Please,” she moaned.
With one last pull to the sensitive nub, he worked his way back up her body. Using his strength, he pushed up over Ryker’s head to kiss her. “I love you,” he said, sinking into her hot depths. The tightening of her inner muscles squeezed his cock like a vice. “Damn you feel good.”
Ryker popped off her nipple and looked at Ranger. “Told ya,” he chuckled, moving his head out of Ranger’s way. Ranger saw him reach for the tube of lube and squirt some in his hand. He knew exactly what Ryker had planned.
Hooking Lilly’s legs over his shoulders, Ranger picked up his rhythm. The harder he pounded into her, the more Lilly begged for. He felt Ryker’s hand brush his sac as he rimmed Lilly’s ass with his lubricated fingers.
“Like that?” Ryker asked Lilly after inserting a finger.
Ranger could’ve told Ryker how much Lilly enjoyed it just by the tight squeeze on his cock at the insertion.
“In me,” Lilly yelled. “Please.”
Ryker looked at Ranger. “How do you want to do this?”
“Me on bottom,” Ranger said as Ryker removed his fingers. Without losing contact, Ranger flipped them so Lilly was now riding him. He pulled her head down for a kiss which left her ass at the perfect level for Ryker.
“You sure you’re ready for this, sweetheart?”
“Yessss,” she hissed as Ryker’s latex-covered cock inched its way inside.
Ranger stilled his movements until Ryker was fully seated. “Tell us when you’re ready, sweetheart.”
“Kiss me and then move,” she said, kissing him passionately.
She seemed to be setting a rhythm with her tongue that Ranger decided to follow. As he thrust into her, he felt the slide of Ryker’s cock through the thin membrane. “Oh fuck,” he cried, breaking the kiss. He looked up at Ryker. “I can feel you.”
“Uh huh,” Ryker grunted trying to match his rhythm.
Lilly’s nails dug into his chest as she rocked back and forth between them. “Yes,” she screamed throwing back her head as she came.
The continued friction against his cock from Ryker, combined with Lilly’s tight heat had him growling his release next. He watched Ryker through spotted vision as he buried himself and shook with the force of his release.
Pulling both of them down, Ranger attacked their mouths and necks with his teeth and tongue. His world was at peace for the first time in his life and he would allow no one to tear them apart.
Chapter Sixteen
Ryker pulled the pack of disinfecting wipes from his pockets after he checked on their newest batch of yearlings. He scrubbed his hands as he strode across the lot yard to the office while wondering if life could possibly get any better than it already was. Not only did he have Lilly in his arms every night, but he’d grown even closer to Ranger over the last seven months.
Upon entering the office, he tossed the used wipe into the trashcan right inside the door before moving behind the reception desk to give his new wife the attention she deserved.
“Yep,” Lilly said into the phone. “I’ll have that invoice out in the mail today. Thanks, Britta.” She hung up. “The Mahoney’s are moving to Florida earlier than planned, so she asked if they could settle their account this week rather than next.”
Ryker took Lilly’s hand. “Come with me.” He led her toward his office. “Family meeting,” he called as they passed Ranger’s office.
“What’s going on?” Lilly asked as Ryker settled her in his lap.
Ryker ran his palm over Lilly’s protruding stomach. It was still hard to believe their child would be born in less than three months. Although the pregnancy hadn’t been planned, it had been heartily welcomed by everyone in the family.
Ranger dropped onto the newly-purchased sofa beside Ryker and Lilly. “What’s up?” He leaned over and gave Lilly a kiss before turning his attention, and his lips, to Ryker.
“I heard a commercial on the radio that got me to thinking. We should call one of those baby-proofers to come by the house to make sure everything’s safe once the baby comes.” Ryker continued to rub Lilly’s stomach.
Lilly and Ranger exchanged glances. “Don’t you think it’s a little too soon to worry about that?” Lilly asked.
Ryker knew he’d get ribbed for the suggestion, but their house had been built with adults in mind. “You
might think so, but what if we discover the stair rails are too far apart and need replacing? That shit’s gonna take some time, and I’d rather not have people outside the family in the house once the baby’s born.”
Lilly kissed Ryker’s jaw. “I love you for worrying about the baby, but the rails are fine, honey. There’re things we’ll need to do later on, like plugging the outlets, securing the cupboards and covering the tables and fireplace with that rubbery stuff, but nothing construction-wise.”
“What about the stairs?” Ryker asked. “I know they have those gates you can put up, but what if our son’s a climber?”
“You mean our daughter,” Ranger corrected.
Ryker rolled his eyes. Although they refused to find out the true gender of their baby, Ranger insisted Lilly was having a girl while Ryker had a gut feeling they were having a boy.
Lilly lifted her hand to her mouth as a yawn escaped her. “Can we worry about this later? It’s past time for my nap, and since I don’t have time to run home today, I’m going to lay down on this new sofa you bought for me.”
Ryker grinned. He loved it when Lilly napped in his office. It usually meant he didn’t get much work done. He refused to talk on the phone while she was resting, and he usually spent more time watching his beautiful wife than taking care of the stacks of paperwork on his desk, but it was one of the best parts of his day.
“I have a better idea. Why don’t we lock the front door, fold out the couch and all take a nap?” Ranger suggested.
Ryker nodded his approval, but Lilly who shook her head.
“We all know there won’t be much napping if the three of us are in bed together.” Lilly ran her fingers through Ranger’s thick, dark hair. “If I’m too distracting, I’ll go home and make the time up later this evening.”
“No,” Ranger and Ryker said at the same time.
Ryker stood with Lilly still in his arms. “Outta the way, brother,” he told Ranger.
Ranger slid off the couch onto his knees and waited for Ryker to put Lilly down before moving in.
Ryker watched as Ranger’s tongue delved between Lilly’s lips. Damn. Predictably, Ryker was hard as a rock by the time Ranger began to knead Lilly’s breast. “You two are either gonna have to stop or I’m stripping.”
Lilly broke the kiss and giggled. She slapped Ranger playfully on the chest. “Back off, Daddies, so Momma can take a nap.”
Daddy. The anxious feeling Ryker thought he’d overcome came back in a rush. What the hell were they doing? Sweat beaded on his forehead. He took a step back. “We’ll leave you alone.” He kissed Lilly’s forehead before pulling Ranger out of the room.
Ryker shut the door to his office. “I’m gonna run out for a bit.”
Ranger stopped Ryker by grabbing his upper arm. “What’s wrong?”
Ryker shook his head. “Just need some air, so I think I’ll check in on Sonny. I’ll be back before she wakes up.”
* * * *
Ryker parked in front of the barn and two seconds later, Sonny came ambling out of the equipment shed.
“Ranger called. He thought you’d be by,” Sonny said while wiping his hands on a rag.
Ryker got out of the truck. “What’re you working on?”
“Just greasing the baler. It’s old, but I think it has a few years left on it.” Sonny motioned toward the shed. “Come on in and get out of the cold.”
Although winter was nearly a memory for another year, the temperature still hovered around forty-five, so Ryker followed Sonny inside. He was surprised to see Sonny so active. Last he’d heard, his brother was still suffering from headaches and the occasional seizure. He sat next to Sonny on a stool that had also seen better days.
“You going to tell me why you stopped by or do I need to guess?” Sonny asked as he went back to fiddling with the baler.
“I’m going to be a dad in a few months.” Ryker dragged his fingers through his hair. “I know we didn’t plan it, but I’ve always wanted kids, and I always dreamed that Lilly would be their mother.”
“So what’s the problem?” Sonny reached for a wrench.
“It’s one thing for an adult to understand the relationship the three of us have, especially, the relationship between me and Ranger, but how am I gonna explain it to our kids?” Ryker had spoken to Sonny about his anxiety right after Lilly had first broken the news, but he’d never before felt this level of panic. Shit.
“I doubt you’ll have to,” Sonny replied. “Believe it or not, I reckon it’s harder for adults to understand because they’re the ones with a preconceived idea of what a normal family should be. Your children’ll grow up seeing the love the three of you have for each other, and I’m pretty damn sure that’s all they’ll care about.” He grinned. “At least until they get old enough to know what those sounds are coming from your bedroom.”
Ryker picked up an empty pop can and threw it at Sonny. “Stop right there.” He’d never considered what children would do to his sex life, and now that Sonny had put the issue out there, Ryker had yet another thing to worry about. “Fuck you.”
Sonny laughed.
* * * *
Ranger’s gut wrenched when Lilly let out another pained moan. He glanced up at Ryker who was busy rubbing Lilly’s back as she suffered another contraction. “You should be in a hospital,” he finally told her. “They have drugs in hospitals.”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “They also have nosey admins,” she panted.
“She’s doing great,” the midwife said as she reached under the water and between Lilly’s legs. “You’re at an eight. Won’t be long, honey.”
When Lilly’s teeth started to chatter, Ranger jumped to his feet. “Do you want me to put some more warm water in the pool?”
Lilly shook her head.
“Why don’t you crush some more ice for her?” Ryker suggested.
Ranger knew Lilly didn’t want or need more ice chips, but he was thankful for the distraction. “Yeah. Okay.”
Ranger wandered into the kitchen where the rest of the family had taken up residence. “Ice chips,” he said in explanation.
“This water birth shit is all kinds of fucked up,” Garron said as Ranger opened the freezer.
Ranger didn’t disagree, but it was what Lilly had wanted. “I’m just thankful she let us buy that little pool instead of using our soaking tub.” He shivered dramatically.
“I think it’s a great idea. A lot of people think giving birth in the water helps a newborn transition from mother to outside world.”
Ranger glanced at Jeb. “If you’re so okay with it, what’re you doing hiding here?”
Jeb crossed his arms over his chest. “I love Lilly, but I have no desire to watch her squeeze a watermelon out of her vagina.” He blinked several times. “Actually, even thinking about it makes me feel sick to my stomach.”
Ranger carried the freezer bag full of ice to the island. He began to crush the ice using the wooden mallet Ryker had found for him. When Ryker had instructed him earlier to get Lilly ice chips, Ranger had mistakenly used the setting on the front of the freezer door. Evidently, according to Ryker, that ice wasn’t small enough, so Ryker had shown Ranger the correct way to do it. Ranger cried bullshit, but Ryker simply growled before going back to Lilly’s side.
“Jesus, man, she wants chips not snow,” Sonny cried.
Ranger paused, realizing he had indeed lost his train of thought and had pulverized the cubes into powder. “Fuck!”
“Ranger!” Ryker yelled from the upstairs bedroom. “Get your ass up here.”
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Ranger grabbed another plastic bag out of the box, but Sonny took it from him before he could open the freezer.
“I’ll take care of this. You go on up,” Sonny said.
“Right.” Ranger took a deep breath. As he made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, he tried to calm his racing heart. He reached the bedroom just as Lilly let out another agonized cry.
“You’re doing good,” R
yker soothed.
Lilly was turned to face the midwife with Ryker supporting her back, and once again, Ranger felt like a third wheel. Was he supposed to kneel beside Ryker and hold Lilly’s hand or stand quietly aside and merely watch her give birth?
As if she’d heard Ranger’s silent questions, Lilly reached out to him. “Sing to me,” she panted.
Ranger’s nerves settled with that simple request. He rarely sang in front of anyone other than Lilly or Ryker because it was something he often did in the shower, but if his best girl wanted to hear him, he’d give her what she needed. He knelt beside the pool and took Lilly’s hand in his. “What would you like to hear?”
“Here Comes the Sun,” Ryker suggested. “Since, ya know, the sun’s gonna shine on us today.”
“Yeah,” Lilly agreed before her face screwed up and she cried out again.
Ranger pressed a kiss to Lilly’s wet temple before he began to sing the old Beatles’ song in a soft voice.
“Okay, let’s start pushing,” the midwife said.
Ranger continued to sing one song after another while the woman he loved gave him the world.
Epilogue
One year later
Answering the knock at the door, Lilly smiled and stepped back. “It’s about time you got here,” she scolded, as Garron grabbed her up in a hug. Sonny spun her around to hug her next.
“Sorry, we had to wait for Mr. Mayor to get off the phone,” Garron said, looking over his shoulder at Rawley.
“Hey, you could’ve driven separately. It’s not like you were chained to my truck.” Rawley nudged Sonny out of the way to place a kiss on Lilly’s cheek. “Where’s my sugar-pie?” He asked, holding up a brightly colored birthday present.
“Rachel is out with her daddies in the barn. They bought her a pony.” She grinned.
“A pony? Last time I checked she could barely walk. What the hell are they thinking getting her a pony?” Rawley asked, sitting the package down and heading toward the back door.
