Divine Charity (29 page)

Perspiration coated their bodies as he finally relaxed and lowered his body to hers. He kissed her breathlessly and nestled his face against her collarbone as they recovered.

Having caught his breath, he loomed over her again but this time she didn’t see the primitive heat and lust in his eyes, she saw tenderness and concern. “I didn’t mean to be
that
rough with you. Are you all right?”

Cupping his cheek in her palm, she lifted her head to kiss him. “That was fantastic. I feel fine, as you could probably tell after orgasm number five…or six…I lost track.”

The cocky grin on his face made her giggle but then his eyes took on a more serious light. “Your neck and shoulders?”

“They’re better today. I would’ve stopped you if the pain flared up. A nice hot shower and I should be good as new.”

He relaxed and looked down at her body as he stroked her breast and her rib cage. Her cunt quivered when he leaned down to suck at one of her nipples, and he closed his eyes and smiled as he gave her one final gentle thrust before withdrawing. “I’ll turn the shower on for you so it’s hot when you get in.” He sat up on the bed and looked over his muscular shoulder at her. “You’re one amazing woman, Charity.”

“It’s good you recognize this, Val,” she murmured as she rolled to curl around his back and kissed his hand resting on his thigh. “The love of an amazing man—amazing men—is what makes me that way.” He caressed her temple with the backs of his fingers and she grinned up at him and shrugged. “It helps that I’m a bit of a badass as well.”

He snorted with laughter and nodded as he finally got up. “I’m not arguing with that.”

“Not going to look a gift pussy in the—”

“Mouth? No.” His laughter echoed throughout the house as he went into the bathroom to start the shower.

Clearly the muscle relaxers are still in my system.

* * * *

Trevor Dornan watched from his vantage point, pissed as hell that he’d gotten his sneakers wet. He frowned back at the creek that gurgled behind him. “Creek my ass. That’s a damned river tributary that needs…damming, damn it.” He barked at his own humor and went back to peeking at the house Val Teller and Ransome Cross had been staying at.

He grinned, knowing he had the right one when the blonde bitch Teller and Cross had hugged and kissed came out with the younger bitch, who was carrying a big white teddy bear dressed in a blue sweater. “Baby boy, huh? Wonder who that’s for.”

By his calculations, the bitch had to be close to popping. He was a betting man and this looked like a good bet. He’d at least do a little reconnaissance work and see what came up since this was his best link to his kid. If nothing else, he could always take those two bitches and demand his in return—no harm no foul. He’d just scare them real good first.

He thought again about maybe secreting that young bitch in another house but thought the stress and hassle might not be worth it, going back and forth sowing in her and waiting for the other to pop. Then he remembered that his equipment was no longer up to snuff and the anger burst inside him, followed by determination. A man needed his virility in order to feel like a real man and they’d all stolen that from him.

He returned to his vehicle, getting his shoes and pant legs wet a second time. He waited until they’d passed his little hiding spot and then pulled out and followed them at a safe distance, to the hospital as it turned out.

“Hmm, this is looking promising. I should’ve been a private investigator.”

* * * *

Jessica Bright rubbed her aching back as she walked in the tree line along Divine Creek, which ran through the property behind the Carlisles’ house. She’d been back at the Rockin’ C Ranch for a few days and had settled into one of the small cabins on the ranch with help from Lydia and LuAnn, who’d taken her shopping the weekend before, for the things she would need for the baby. She hoped for a chance to show them how grateful she was for their help and hospitality.

She’d felt restless all day. Even though the baby probably wouldn’t come for a few more weeks, she’d been having aches and pains that made it hard to sit still, so she’d decided to take a short walk to get some fresh air and to get a little exercise.

The creek looked so shady and cool through the trees. She considered getting closer, but the land sloped a little beyond the tree line and she was ungainly with her big pregnant belly. She didn’t want to take a chance on falling and hurting the baby or herself.

“Maybe just into the tree line a bit, in the shade. I could find a soft place to sit for a while.” She picked her way carefully through an opening, using narrow tree trunks as handholds.

The creek gurgled around the rocks and the shade offered a nice respite from the sunny day. She let out a happy sigh as she lowered herself onto a large flat rock near the edge.

She winced as the baby squirmed, which translated into sharp pains way down low in her abdomen. “You seem like you’re in a hurry,” she told the baby as she stroked her abdomen. The one and only position that she found comfortable anymore was on her hands and knees—not the most dignified. The baby squirmed again, sending a shooting pain straight through a
very
uncomfortable spot in her nether region.

“Okay, okay, chickpea. You didn’t like the rock, I get it,” she said as she slowly slipped onto her hands and knees and took the chance to stretch her back. Of course, the baby instantly settled down.

“Awesome,” she whispered gratefully.

Relief overwhelmed any concerns about someone seeing her like that, with her big ol’ butt in the air and her belly hanging down. “Moo,” she said to herself. The thought of how she must look right then tickled her funny bone and she started laughing. It’d been so long since she’d laughed and it felt so good that she just let it all out. The baby seemed to be a captive audience to her pregnancy-induced lunacy because he or she was still for the moment. The laughter was positively cathartic and before she knew it, she had tears in her eyes and running down her cheeks.

The rapid tramping of footsteps in the leaves behind her startled her and she looked over her shoulder, swamped with irrational fear for a second until she saw who had found her. Then she wanted to disappear under the nearby rock.

“Shoot. Me. Now,” she whispered, plunking her butt down so she sat on her haunches, a really uncomfortable position considering her swollen ankles.
Honey, you’re just a ticking time bomb, aren’t you?

Tank and Troy came running up to her, their faces tense. Troy’s cheeks were flushed like he’d run the entire way. Breathlessly, he said, “Sweetie, are you okay?”

Tank kneeled down to her and wrapped a gentle hand around her upper arm. “We saw you walking along the creek and then the next time I looked up you were gone. I decided to check and I thought—we thought we heard you crying.” His gaze noted the tears in her eyes and on her cheeks which she quickly swiped with her shirt sleeve.

“And then we saw you down on the ground. Honey, are you okay?” Troy asked as he gently grasped her other arm. “Here, let us help you.”

Unwilling to have them think she was a damsel in distress in need of rescuing, even though that seemed to be a pattern with her, she pulled away and tried to rise to her feet on her own. As if proving the point, she lost her footing in the slippery oak leaves covering the ground.

“
Whoa
, sweetie. Here let us help you out of here,” Troy said, placing her arm around his waist. “You just hold on to us, okay?”

“Sorry,” she muttered, furious with herself. “I should’ve stayed on flat ground up where I belonged. It just looked so inviting in here.”

“Did you fall down?” Tank asked as he slipped her arm around his waist and they maneuvered her around to a flatter area.

As if she wasn’t humiliated enough already, she realized she needed to find a bathroom, if the damp state of her undies was any indicator. Not that she was going to tell them that.

“No. I got down there on my own volition.”

“Did you lose something?” Troy asked, looking at her like she’d been in the sun too long.

Besides control of my bladder?
“No. This is so embarrassing. On my hands and knees is one of the few positions that’s still comfortable. I just wanted to get some fresh air and the baby started acting up. Stop, I need to sit,” she said as her belly tightened up with another Braxton-Hicks contraction. She rubbed the heel of her hand against her stiff, aching lower back, feeling like a wreck. It was so embarrassing to be seen in such a weak state, especially by those two hunks.

So much for making a good impression on people.

“Why were you crying?” Tank asked as he gazed down at her, his bulky arms crossed over his muscular chest. He probably didn’t mean to be so imposing but he succeeded anyway.

She frowned as a sharp pain shot down her right leg and she had no choice but to straighten it out as she kept rubbing her back.
Oh yeah, real dignified.

“Honey?” Tank squatted down so he was at eye level.

“Oh. I wasn’t crying, at least not at first. I was laughing. I—I have kind of a goofy laugh. My position suddenly struck me as funny and I had to laugh. Once I got started I got tickled and couldn’t stop. I haven’t had that much to laugh about lately, you know? That’s all. Although this pain is no laughing matter,” she said as she suddenly grimaced.

Tank frowned and asked, “Did you bring your cell phone with you down here?”

“What? No. I was just going for a little walk. I was within sight of the cabin and the ranch house.”

Tank lifted a dark red eyebrow. “Until you came down here. What if you’d really fallen down? Or fallen in the water? This area isn’t safe for you to walk in alone. You should’ve brought the phone, or asked one of us to come with you.”

“I know that now,” she snapped as the baby let her know that he or she
really
didn’t like her sitting down on that hard rock by squirming hard enough to send a pain rocketing through her nether regions. “Oh, fudge,
that hurt
,” she gasped, more at the baby than to the men.

Troy and Tank looked at each other over her head and then Tank said, “I think we need to get you up to the ranch house. Troy, call Lydia and let her know.”

“Oh, don’t bother Lydia. I do need to get back to my cabin but I think I can make it if you can just help me back up to the flat ground.
Then I can just waddle my ass to the nearest little girls’ room.

She gasped as Tank kneeled down and scooped her and her big baby tummy into his thick arms. A gush of hot fluid between her legs startled her and Tank as well and horror filled his eyes.

Well that’s just terrific!

* * * *

Presley Ann’s heart raced as she waited for her father’s reaction. He sat at his desk in his study, his eyes trained on the desk blotter. Of all the talks she’d ever had with her dad, this was not one she’d ever foreseen. She knew she’d disappointed him in the past, many times in fact. But she’d never doubted her place in his heart and in the family.

He’d been pushing her to grow up for a while. She knew that all along but now she saw herself through new eyes. Spoiled little rich girl. Daddy’s girl. Social climber. Gold digger. The last thought made her mentally cringe. Opportunist. She’d gone to work for her dad only to shut him up and not because she’d had any real desire to please him or show him she understood his concerns. She’d used him to subsidize her fantasy lifestyle until she could find a man willing to take her on.

Idiot.

He studied the blotter, sliding his mechanical pencil back and forth over the suede. The knot of tension in her gut tightened as he looked up at her with eyes that shone with tears.

He cleared his throat and said, “This is my fault.”

Shaking her head, Presley Ann said, “I’m so sorry, Dad.”

“The last few weeks I noticed you were more…”

Out of sorts. Sick-looking. Pathetic.

“Serious. More focused. Willing to help…without complaint.”

Ow.
“I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

“Are you keeping it?”

She looked up at him, pain lancing in her heart. “Of course.”

“Of course. If you were going to get an abortion, you would’ve just done it. You wouldn’t have told me at all.” Behind the words, she heard what he left unsaid. That she wouldn’t have cared what he thought. That she would’ve done anything to protect her lifestyle. It hurt, but she knew there was a good reason he thought that of her. He didn’t understand that the baby had changed something in her. Flipped a switch that could never be unflipped.

Even worse than the judgment she’d feared from him was the realization that his opinion of her was so low. That was all on her. She couldn’t blame him. When she looked back on the last few years, she had a low opinion of herself as well. It hurt to face that.

He sat back in his chair and drew in a shaky breath as he looked at her. “Have you told your sister yet?”

Brushing stray strands of blonde hair from her face, she said, “No. She’s going through some pretty heavy stuff of her own. I’ve tried a couple of times to talk to her but I don’t think she really hears me.” Leah had responded in all the right places when Presley Ann had tried to start a conversation the day before, but when it was clear she wasn’t listening, Presley Ann had given up and let her go on about her routine. She’d waited up the night before but Leah hadn’t come home at all.